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James Slipper set to equal Australia’s all-time Super Rugby games record
Veteran prop James Slipper will etch his name in the history books when he returns to the Brumbies’ starting XV for Saturday night’s pivotal Super Rugby Pacific derby against the Queensland Reds.
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The 34-year-old will equal fellow former Wallabies captain Stephen Moore’s record for most Super Rugby caps by an Australian with a 177th as the Brumbies strive to keep the Reds at bay at Suncorp Stadium.
The third-placed ACT outfit are three competition points ahead of the fifth-placed Reds as the leading Australian team on the ladder a third of the way through the competition.
Slipper has been coming off the bench but, along with hooker Lachlan Lonergan, will return to the starting front row alongside Sosefo Kautai.
Fresh off a nine-try, 60-21 rout of Moana Pasifika, the Brumbies are also hoping to retain the Rod McQueen Cup with victory over the Reds.
Dual international Suliasi Vunivalu is the biggest casualty from Queensland’s shock 40-31 loss to the last-placed Western Force, dumped to the Reds bench to make way for 2023 World Cup teammate Jordan Petaia.
Coach Les Kiss has also opted to rest teenage five-eighth Harry McLaughlin-Phillips after a strong start to the season, with Lawson Creighton replacing the 19-year-old on the bench.
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The NSW Waratahs welcome back classy backs Will Harrison and Lalakai Foketi for the Good Friday hosting of the Melbourne Rebels at Allianz Stadium.
The pair’s return – via the bench at the expense of Triston Reilly and Fergus Lee-Warner – for their first games of 2024 is reward for resilience and mental strength.
After a series of heartbreaking injuries, Harrison will make his first Super Rugby game in 707 days, while Foketi was hospitalised with a neck injury during the pre-season.
But after being cleared of any serious cervical spine injuries, Foketi has fought his way back into the team.
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“It’s great news,” assistant coach Chris Whitaker said on Wednesday.
“They both received a big cheer in the team meeting when the team was announced.
“They’ve both obviously had different injury setbacks, but they’ve both shown a lot of mental fortitude and strength of character to come back from their injuries.
“They boys saw Lalakai taken away in an ambulance, which was quite frightening for them, so they’re happy to see him back. He gives us a lot of experience in that backline and the boys love to play with him.
“It’s been a long battle for Will Harrison. It’s so good to see him back.
“The boys have seen him in here every day working on his injuries. He’s raring to go and he’s a little terrier who will give us plenty of energy.”
The Rebels will be without influential but injured fullback Andrew Kellaway, while sevens young gun Darby Lancaster will make his debut on the wing.
Former Wallabies lock Sam Carter will make his debut for the Force, who are looking to back up their win over the Reds with victory over the Fijian Drua in Lautoka, where the Waratahs lost 39-36 in extra time last Saturday.
But Force captain Jeremy Williams is out on Saturday with a calf strain that will sideline the second-rower for up to three weeks.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments