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Rebels v Aces, preview
August 17, 2007 - 6:32am
Story by: Sportal
Venue & time
Olympic Park, Melbourne. Saturday August 18, 7.30pm (AEST).
Head to head
Debut clash
Walking wounded & team changes
Melbourne Rebels coach Bill Millard has made only one change to the squad that defeated the Vikings last week in Canberra with Sydney Uni flanker David Haydon replacing Felipe Manu on the bench.
Teenage lock Robert Simmons makes his debut in the Mazda ARC coming in at lock for Luke Caughley. The only other change to the squad sees returning prop Ben Coutts on the bench in place of Lloyd Campbell McBride.
Form
The Rebels surprised everyone with a come-from-behind win last week over the Canberra Vikings in Canberra. After leaking some tries through the centres and on the wing, the Rebels took control of play in the middle of the park to start the ball rolling and built up a winning momentum.
The Aces had an explosive start to the Mazda ARC blazing out to a 27-0 lead over the Ballymore Tornadoes last week. The Aces controlled play at the breakdown with a great indicator of their forwards dominance the fact that all four of their tries through the forwards – two from the front row.
Who's hot
Rebels skipper David Croft led from the front last weekend. His scavenging style at the breakdown suits the experimental rules and he was simply devastating in both attack and defence. Blindside David Dennis was also in everything along with lock Richard Stanford. Luke Burgess has a busy game at scrumhalf while Test winger Digby Ioane was electrifying every time he touched the ball.
Aces hooker Ole Avei continued his good form scoring the opening try for the Aces last week while flanker AJ Gilbert was in everything. Wallabies fullback Chris Latham also showed his class despite still getting back up to match fitness after his knee reconstruction. Skipper Lloyd Johansson was devastating in attack while number eight Josh Afu also stood out.
Teams
Melbourne Rebels
1. Scott Cameron,
2. Nick Churven,
3. Heamani Lavaka,
4. Matt Cockbain,
5. Richard Stanford,
6. David Dennis,
7. David Croft (c),
8. Dave Haigh,
9. Luke Burgess (vc)
10. Dan Kelly,
11. Digby Ioane,
12. Jack Farrer,
13. James Lew,
14. Peter Playford (vc),
15. Nathan Trist.
16. Mike Ross,
17. James Hanson,
18. Liam Shaw,
19. David Haydon,
20. Jon McGrath,
21. Michael Hobbs,
22. Damon Murphy
Not considered due to injury were Western Force flanker Matt Hodgson (knee) and Australian Sevens captain Shawn Mackay (foot).
The remaining squad members not selected in the 22 will turn out for their Bundaberg Rum Pillar Cup teams this weekend: local star Josh Hately will be locking horns for the North West University Lions as they take on 2nd place Harlequins South. Westgate Power will have Luke Cross in the centres as they try to get back to their winning ways against the Kingston Redbacks, with Felipe Manu in the backrow. In the other Pillar Cup fixture this weekend Eastern Suburbs take on Melbourne Barbarians at Box Hill.
East Coast Aces
1. Tama Tuirirangi,
2. Ole Avei,
3. Rodney Blake,
4. Will Munsie,
5. Robert Simmons,
6. Ben Mowen,
7. AJ Gilbert,
8. Josh Afu,
9. Nic Berry,
10. Ben Lucas,
11. Henari Veratau,
12. Lloyd Johansson (capt),
13. Charlie Fetoai,
14. Andrew Walker,
15. Chris Latham.
16. Jade Ingham,
17. Ben Coutts,
18. James Kriukelis,
19. Bo Paraha,
20. Sam Batty,
21. Quade Cooper,
22. Marshall Milroy.