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Under-fire Queensland Reds coach Brad Thorn has received little help from the rugby gods after a pair of injury setbacks forced 11th-hour changes to his side for their historic trip to Samoa.
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The Reds are enduring a three-game Super Rugby Pacific losing skid, last Friday’s heavy loss to the ACT Brumbies leaving off-contract Thorn’s future firmly in the spotlight.
They face the winless Moana Pasifika on Friday, but will do so in the second-year club’s first game in Samoa after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to call New Zealand home.
A broken hand for co-captain Liam Wright on Wednesday and hamstring aggravation to centre Isaac Henry has only compounded Thorn’s headache.
Wright’s wicked run of injuries continued when he was lifted in a line-out and copped an innocuous knock, while Henry was confident of overcoming his niggle but was unable to get through Wednesday’s session.
It means out-of-favour James O’Connor will return to the starting side, but in the No.12, while Jake Upfield gets a starting debut in place of Wright.
Co-captain Tate McDermott sympathised with the injury-prone pair and delivered a staunch defence of his coach.
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“I feel for him,” McDermott said of his long-time mentor Thorn.
“He’s been as good as you can be; he’s copped barbs from most angles.
“It’s pretty unfair, if you look at our organisation he’s not solely responsible for it.
“There’s so many other pieces that are responsible for the way the Reds are playing and we have to share that burden.
“It was a grim day on Monday reviewing … we had to face the reality that that’s what we dished out.”
The halfback also said new defence coach Phil Blake had been let down by the players’ efforts.
“He’s given us the perfect framework to defend like a pack of dogs and we’ve gone away from it,” McDermott said.
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“Moana will be up for it … you give them a little line break here or there and they’ll feed off it, their fans in background will be screaming and they’ll be full of confidence.
“When we say we’re going to show up in defence we have to get out there and bring the dog out.”
Regular No.10 O’Connor was dropped to the bench last week but is a handy foil at inside centre, where he has played at Test level.
Suliasi Vunivalu has also been recalled after the Wallabies hopeful was sensationally dropped last week, while Connor Vest and Ryan Smith make a new-look lock combination.
Lawson Creighton has kept hold of the No.10 jersey, with playmaker Tom Lynagh overcoming the concussion that ruled him out of three games and taking his place on the bench.
QUEENSLAND: Sef Fa’agase, Matt Faessler, Zane Nonggorr, Connor Vest, Ryan Smith, Jake Upfield, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Tate McDermott, Lawson Creighton, Jordan Petaia, James O’Connor, Josh Flook, Suliasi Vunivalu, Jock Campbell. Bench: Richie Asiata, Peni Ravai, Phransis Sula-Siaosi, Lopeti Faifua, Connor Anderson, Kalani Thomas, Tom Lynagh, Mac Grealy.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to comments