Lance at Pivot for Reds trial match
Lance and fullback Aidan Toua have been named as starters for the first time since re-signing with the franchise.
The 26-man squad features 19 players with previous Super Rugby experience, along with a number of players who have progressed through Queensland Rugby Union’s Under-20 and National Rugby Championship pathways in recent years.
The starting side features 14 capped Reds players, along with uncapped hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa – who has already featured for the Reds in their intra-squad trial and the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens.
The bench also features new Reds JP Smith, Filipo Daugunu and Teti Tela.
The match is the Reds’ final fixture before their Super Rugby season commences with an away match against the Melbourne Rebels next Friday, February 23.
Reds head coach Thorn said: "Everyone is looking forward to getting back to Ballymore for our final pre-season match.
"The team has had a couple of hit-outs now, but [Thursday's] match is our first proper 15s clash, so we’ll be looking to get plenty out of it as we start our preparations for our opening match of the season.
"It’s good to be able to welcome Jono and Aidan into the team for the first time. They’ve been training with us for a little bit now so are itching to get involved.
"We don’t have many opportunities to play at Ballymore and the players love running out onto that turf, so it would be great to see a big crowd gather to watch us play the Fijian Warriors,"
Reds: 15 Aidan Toua, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Duncan Paia’aua, 11 Izaia Perese, 10 Jono Lance, 9 James Tuttle, 8 Scott Higginbotham (captain), 7 Adam Korczyk, 6 Caleb Timu, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Lukhan Tui, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Alex Mafi, 17 JP Smith, 18 Sef Fa’agase, 19 Harry Hockings, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Moses Sorovi, 22 Hamish Stewart, 23 Filipo Daugunu, 26 Liam Wright, 27 Tate McDermott, 28 Teti Tela
Fiji Warriors: tbc
Date: Thursday, February 15
Venue: Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 19.00 (9.00 GMT, 21.00 Fiji time)
Referee: TBC
