Burgess unleashed on Sharks
Rebels coach Tony McGahan injected Wallaby scrumhalf Luke Burgess into the starting line-up to face the Sharks in Melbourne on Friday.
McGahan believes Burgess' experience and physicality from kick-off will be an asset against the competition leaders in the first game of their four-match Australasian Super Rugby tour.
"We're looking for a change in dynamics this weekend as we play the Sharks who have such a big physical pack," McGahan said.
"Luke has a strong kicking game from nine, and we'll need the physicality around the ruck and in attack and defence that Luke can certainly bring.
"Nic Stirzaker has done a fantastic job for us, starting the last five games, and there is a big difference between starting games and finishing games; there's a different skillset required.
"Nic has given us a great platform, and Luke has been terrific adding enthusiasm, speed and consistency when he has come on in the latter stages; Nic gets the opportunity to do that this week."
Burgess' introduction from the outset is one of only two changes to the Rebels side which defeated the Western Force 22-16 two weeks ago.
Prop Cruze Ah-Nau is promoted for his first Super Rugby start as Toby Smith misses with a shoulder injury.
Cadeyrn Neville and Shota Horie played arguably their best games of the season against the Western Force, and their strong performances keep Hugh Pyle and Pat Leafa respectively on the substitutes bench this week.
"Cadeyrn had a lot of work to get through, and a lot to work on after his first start of the season in Round Two against the Western Force before he returned to the starting lineup in Round Ten," McGahan explained.
"He did that well, worked hard on his game and the evidence was there last time around where he did a really good job for us, particularly in the contact areas.
"Cadeyrn knows as well as everybody else that he needs to string back to back performances together, and he will get no better test than coming up against basically a Springbok forward pack.
"Shota Horie had his best game for the Club last time out; I thought he was terrific, and he won one of our internal awards for his performance.
"What he brought to the group in terms of his enthusiasm, his carries and his footwork were great, and he was a big part of our scrum doing well. The pleasing thing for him is that the more time he has been able to gather in Super Rugby, the better he has been able to become.
"It takes time to adapt to the environment, and he is certainly a great example of somebody benefitting from time and patience."
Rebels: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Male Sau, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Tom English, 10 Bryce Hegarty, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Scott Higginbotham (captain), 7 Scott Fuglistaller, 6 Colby Fainga'a, 5 Luke Jones, 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Cruze Ah-Nau.
Replacements: 16 Pat Leafa, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Paul Alo-Emilie, 19 Hugh Pyle, 20 Sean McMahon, 21 Nic Stirzaker, 22 Tom Kingston, 23 Angus Roberts.
Date: Friday, May 2
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-off: 19.40 (09.40 GMT; 11.40 SA time)
Referee: Andrew Lees (Australia)
Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann, James Leckie (Australia)
TMO: Peter Marshall (Australia)
