James O’Connor seeing red after corked leg heaps more pain on embattled Queenslanders
Jim Tucker
The Courier-Mail
March 12, 2015 2:48PM
A CORKED leg has heaped further injury pain on the luckless Queensland Reds with attacking spark James O’Connor ruled out of Saturday night’s clash against the ACT Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium.
Reds coach Richard Graham has made three changes to the starting side with the big upside being the return of pack rock James Horwill.
Lock Horwill was a late withdrawal from last week’s 23-5 loss to the NSW Waratahs due to back spasms but has been declared fit and will take the place of Dave McDuling.
After suffering a second concussion in as many games against the NSW Waratahs, winger Lachie Turner is on an automatic one-game stand down.
He is replaced by impressive teenager Campbell Magnay on the wing.
With JJ Taulagi (knee) and banned Karmichael Hunt already out, the Reds have turned to centre Ben Tapuai to play fullback.
“We haven’t been able to manage the continuity of selection in the backs but we have a lot of clarity on the way that we want to play,” Graham said.
“Will (Genia) and Nick (Frisby) will be playing their third game together this year and are developing an understanding of how they can complement each other.
“Taps adds another kicking option with his left foot and it’ll open up options down the left side of the field.
“While he hasn’t played a lot with the team this season, his 25-minute stint last weekend demonstrated how well he understands what we want and what benefits he can add to the team’s shape.”
The Brumbies have named an unchanged line-up as they seek to stay atop the Australian Conference.
“James (O’Connor) is a victim of his own previous (knee) injury and of the situation we have found ourselves in with the number of backline injuries.
“He was always skinny on the amount of work he’d done and then found himself playing 80 minutes back to back.
“He suffered a nasty cork early in the Waratahs game which finished as a small strain by the end. It’s not ideal but we have been chasing a bit in the backs due to the lack of numbers and continuity.
“The team is upbeat and looking forward to the game against the Brumbies. The previous result has absolutely no bearing on this contest. We haven’t even discussed it.”
The Reds were thrashed 47-3 when the teams met in the opening round in Canberra last month.
REDS (1-15): James Slipper, Saia Fainga’a, Sam Talakai, Marco Kotze, James Horwill, Adam Thomson, Liam Gill, Jake Schatz, Will Genia, Nick Frisby, Campbell Magnay, Anthony Fainga’a, Chris Feauai-Sautia, Chris Kuridrani, Ben Tapuai
Reserves: James Hanson, Ben Daley, Sef Faagase, Dave McDuling, Curtis Browning, Scott Gale, Sam Johnson, Tom Banks
BRUMBIES (1-15): Scott Sio, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, Rory Arnold, Sam Carte, Scott Fardy, Jarrad Butler, Ita Vaea, Nic White, Matt Toomua, Joe Tomane, Christian Lealiifano, Tevita Kuridrani, Henry Speight, Robbie Coleman
Reserves: Josh Mann-Rea, Ruan Smith, JP Smith, Jordan Smiler, Blake Enever, Michael Dowsett, Lausii Taliauli, James Dargaville
http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/su...-1227259992610
They are not really getting much bang for their buck with The Rabbit are they!
