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Internationals return for critical Super Rugby AU round as Western Force unveil four Pumas in starting XV

(Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Queensland Reds captain Liam Wright and Brumbies counterpart Allan Alaalatoa will return from injury and suspension in Saturday’s top-of-the table Super Rugby AU clash in Brisbane.

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Wright has missed his side’s unbeaten six-game run after hurting his ankle in their only preseason clash, while Alaalatoa has served a three-game suspension.

The Reds can seal a home final with victory at Suncorp Stadium, having beaten the Brumbies in a 40-38 epic in Canberra when they last met.

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All Blacks Dane Coles, Sevu Reece, Shannon Frizell, and Scott Barrett share their favourite drills, what other position they want to play and what their number one tip is for young rugby players. Brought to you by Healthspan Elite.

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All Blacks Dane Coles, Sevu Reece, Shannon Frizell, and Scott Barrett share their favourite drills, what other position they want to play and what their number one tip is for young rugby players. Brought to you by Healthspan Elite.

Bryce Hegarty has also retained his spot at fullback in his 100th Super Rugby game, keeping Wallabies winger Filipo Daugunu on a stacked bench still missing injured speedster Suliasi Vunivalu.

“He’s been working hard on his rehab with our physio and strength and conditioning team for the past two months to ensure he’s strong and fit to return,” Reds coach Brad Thorn said of Wright.

“His leadership amongst the group has only grown and we’re looking forward to having him back out there.”

Alaalatoa’s return allows fellow Wallabies front-rower and former Reds captain James Slipper to return to the other side of the scrum with Folau Fainga’a named at hooker.

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Brumbies veteran Scott Sio returns on the bench after recovering from an elbow injury.

“Allan and Scotty are world class props, it’s a good time to get them back, they’ve both trained really well for a couple of weeks,” Brumbies coach Dan McKellar said.

“Allan’s certainly keen to get back out there and lead the side through his actions, that’s what he’s all about.”

The Rebels host Western Force on Friday, with Dave Wessels promoting Australian sevens star Lewis Holland off the bench to start for the first time in the No.12.

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Fullback Tom Pincus has been moved to the bench, with Reece Hodge shifted from inside centre to fullback.

Kyle Goodwin will captain the Force in his return from injury, while Argentinian international Santiago Medrano replaces the injured Greg Holmes at tighthead prop.

It means the Force will field four Argentinians in the starting side for the first time, with Tomás Lezana, Tomás Cubelli and Domingo Miotto at No.8, 9 and 10 respectively.

– Murray Wenzel

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J
JW 1 hour ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

This piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.


I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.


Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.


The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.

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