Adam Coleman to make first Rebels start of 2019

Head coach Dave Wessels has named four changes to his Rebels starting XV for their Super Rugby encounter against the Brumbies on Friday, with the majority of changes coming in the team’s forward pack.

Adam Coleman will make his first start at lock for 2019, with Luke Jones to begin the game in the reserves, while number eight Ross Haylett-Petty has also been named on the bench and is in line to potentially come on the ground for his first cap of the year.

Prop Matt Gibbon, hooker Robbie Abel and flanker Rob Leota have all been named to make their first starts for the Rebels.

Wessels says the amount of changes to the club’s forward pack mainly came down to managing the side ahead of two consecutive months of matches.

“In order to win Super Rugby, you need a good squad and there’s been guys who have trained and competed in the last couple of weeks who deserve a go,” he said.

“Anybody who’s not at full capacity, we shouldn’t be putting in there just based on reputation. We need to be smart, we’ve got a run of eight games continuously, so we need to have the fresher players available all the time.”

The competition for spots in the side was a key factor in the decision to not promote Reece Hodge to a starting position in what is an unchanged Rebels backline.

Wessels added: “It’s probably just a reflection of Tom English and Billy Meakes doing a good job for us in the midfield.

“Reece is the ultimate professional and we do everything we ask of him, but we want payers to feel that they have to warrant their performances at all time, so Hodgey is doing everything in his power but the other guys are working hard to keep their spots too.”

Rebels: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Tom English, 12 Billy Meakes, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 Brad Wilkin, 6 Rob Leota, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Matt Philip, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Robbie Abel, 1 Matt Gibbon
Replacements: 16 Anaru Rangi, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Luke Jones, 20 Ross Haylett-Petty, 21 Richard Hardwick, 22 Michael Ruru, 23 Reece Hodge

Date: Friday, March 8
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-off: 19:45 local (08:45 GMT)
Referee: AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Graham Cooper (Australia)
TMO: Ian Smith (Australia)