Daley, Robinson return for Reds
Reds prop Ben Daley and flank Beau Robinson return from one-week injury lay-offs to regain their places in the matchday squad set to play the Super Rugby competition leading Chiefs in Brisbane on Sunday.
Daley (hamstring) has been thrust straight back into the starting line-up for the all-important Mother’s Day encounter on May 13 while Robinson (fibula) will be used as a late game closer from the bench.
The inclusion of Daley and Robinson are the only two changes made from last Sunday’s narrow loss to the Crusaders with an unchanged starting backline representing just the second time in 2012 the Reds have fielded the same line-up from No.9 to No.15 on consecutive weeks.
The Reds will run out this week with vice-captain Will Genia at No.9 and Ben Lucas at No.10; Digby Ioane and Dom Shipperley on the wings; Mike Harris and Anthony Faingaa in the centres; and Luke Morahan at fullback.
The last occurrence of this happening came during their early season successes over the Force (Round Two) and Rebels (Round Three) whereby the Reds managed to record two straight wins.
“We’ve worked our way through a difficult period of injuries and are now seeing the benefit of cohesion in our selections and with combinations out of the field,” coach Ewen McKenzie said.
“You can sense a huge lift in the confidence and intensity of our play following the return of a number of players and they will only continue to play better the more they get the opportunity to play alongside one another.
“We took a huge step forward last week against the Crusaders in terms of performance and I genuinely believe it’s only a matter of time before we fully click.
“Getting Ben and Beau back also obviously helps as they are two key forwards and you need your best players out on the field for big games. The stakes are high for Sunday and we expect both to be integral to the outcome.”
Reds: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Ben Lucas, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Jake Schatz, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 James Hanson, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Eddie Quirk, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Rod Davies.
Date: Sunday, May 13
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 16.10 (06.10 GMT)
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Andrew Lees (Australia), Simon Moore (Australia)
TMO: Steve Lesczcynski (Australia)
