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Perth - The Rebels have named their team for the final Australian derby of the season against the Western Force at nib Stadium in Perth on Friday.
Rebels head coach Tony McGahan has made eight changes to the 23-player team for the penultimate round of the 2017 Super Rugby season.
Scottish-native Murray Douglas will make his first Super Rugby start after being named at lock for his second Rebels appearance following his debut in Round 4 against the Chiefs at AAMI Park.
Prop Laurie Weeks, flyhalf Jackson Garden-Bachop and full-back Jonah Placid return to the starting line-up after the trio came off the bench against the Brumbies before the international break.
A season ending injury to wing Sefa Naivalu in the Wallabies final Test against Italy has forced McGahan to shuffle the backline with Reece Hodge to partner Mitch Inman in the centres, while Tom English has been moved to the wing and Placid to full-back for his first start of 2017.
“There’s no harder Australian road trip than to Perth, but the players are hungry after three weeks of training to return to some competitive football on Friday and finish the remaining two games of the season on a positive note,” McGahan said.
“The injury to Sefa has forced some movement across our backline but these 23 players have impressed the coaching staff over the last few weeks and deserve their opportunity to start on Friday night against the Force.”
Australian U20s representatives Jordan Uelese and Sione Tuipulotu return to the reserves bench, while Jack Maddocks has overcome a wrist injury that forced the rising star to miss the 2017 World Rugby U20s Championship in Georgia.
Three Victorians have been named in the team with young prop Fereti Sa’aga, fresh off signing a two-year contract extension with the club, to join Uelese and Tuipulotu on the bench for the final away game of the season.
Teams:
Force
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Chance Peni, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Bill Meakes, 11 Alex Newsome, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Michael Ruru, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 Richard Hardwick, 6 Ross Haylett-Petty, 5 Adam Coleman (captain), 4 Matt Philip, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Pek Cowan
Substitutes: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Tetera Faulkner, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Jono Lance, 23 James Verity-Amm
Rebels
15 Jonah Placid, 14 Tom English, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 9 Nic Stirzaker (captain), 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Lopeti Timani, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Murray Douglas, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 James Hanson, 1 Toby Smith
Substitutes:16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Cruze Ah Nau, 18 Fereti Sa’aga, 19 Culum Retallick, 20 Hugh Sinclair, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Sione Tuipulotu, 23 Jack Maddocks
