Horwill back in NRC action

Former Australian captain James Horwill will return to action after a seven week lay-off when he runs out for Brisbane City in the NRC.

Following the Wallabies 51-20 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks, the Reds captain has a chance to go from discard to starter when the Wallabies take on the Springboks in Perth.

There could be up to 10 current Wallabies given a chance to prove themselves after Christian Lealiifano, Peter Betham, Tom English and Paddy Ryan – who are on the fringe of the squad – played in the NRC's first round.

It would be interesting to see whether Will Skelton and Scott Higginbotham will part of those 10 players as the pair have played less than 40 minutes in the Bledisloe Cup games.

Joe Tomane and Henry Speight haven't managed to shake off their hamstring strains, however Tomane remains an outside chance to play the Springboks.

*Meanwhile, Queensland Country enjoyed a bye in the first round while Perth Spirit was the only team able to pick up an away 28-23 win over UC Vikings.

Brisbane City ran out comfortable 45-20 winners over Sydney Stars, NSW Country Eagles breezed past Greater Sydney Rams 31-2 and Melbourne Rising got off to an easy 55-32 home win against North Harbour Rays.

Scores and scorers:

Brisbane City 45-20 Sydney Stars

Brisbane City:

Tries: McIntyre, Parker, White 2, Kuridrani 2

Cons: McIntyre 5

Sydney Stars:

Tries: Clunies-Ross, Stewart, Dargaville, Betham

UC Vikings 23-28 Perth Spirit

UC Vikings:

Tries: Thompson, Coleman 2, Ah Wong

Cons: Lealiifano

Perth Spirit:

Tries: Holmes, Matuauto, Leyds, Tessmann

Cons: Holmes, Matuauto

Pens: Burton

NSW Country Eagles 31-2 Greater Sydney Rams

NSW Country Eagles:

Tries: Miller, Kellaway, Ma'afu, Carraro

Cons: Windsor 2, Etrich

Greater Sydney Rams:

Pens: Vola Vola

Melbourne Rising 55-32 North Harbour Rays

Melbourne Rising:

Tries: Stirzaker, Debreczeni, Naivalu 2, Veainu 2, Rolleston

Cons: Debreczeni 5

North Harbour Rays:

Tries: Lewis, Gower, Lucas, Feltscheer, Porecki

Cons: Angus 3

Standings (under headings played, won, points)

1. NSW Country Eagles     1    1     5

2. Melbourne Rising    1    1    5    

3. Brisbane City    1    1    4

4. Perth Spirit        1    1    4

5. UC Vikings        1    0    1

6. North Harbour Rays    1    0    0

7. Sydney Stars        1    0    0

8. Greater Sydney Rams    1    0    0

9. Queensland Country    0    0    0