Two new recruits have been named to start in the Force’s first game of the 2019 National Rugby Championship on Saturday.
After impressive performances against the Tongan ‘Ikale Tahi national team on the weekend, head coach Tim Sampson has called up former Melbourne Rebels winger Kiti Ratu and 19-year-old Brisbane centre Byron Ralston to take on last year’s runner-up Queensland Country.
“Kiti has great experience having been at the Melbourne Rebels for a few years and the Rising. He showed some good signs in the game last week and I am looking forward to watching him play again,” Sampson said.
“Byron joined us last week and it was all a bit of a whirlwind, but he held his own and handled himself very well.
“He has had a very good season in Queensland Premier Grade rugby and I’m sure he is looking forward to playing against some of his former teammates that he was in the Grand Final with only two weeks ago.”
Chris Heiberg will make an appearance in the starting XV for the first time this year, with Tom Sheminant unavailable for selection as he recovers from a rib injury sustained in Tonga.
The forward pack has seen a further shuffle with the return of former All Black Jeremey Thrush, moving Fergus Lee-Warner to flanker alongside youngster Carlo Tizzano.
“We know that Queensland Country’s forward pack is quite a big group, so we picked a sizable pack to match, with Thrush and Grant as locks and Fergus there at number six,” Sampson said.
“We had put Thrush on ice for Tonga with the plan of bringing him in for round one of the NRC.”
Outstanding form from Issak Fines has seen him hold onto his starting position, keeping Ian Prior in the reserves. Fly-half Andrew Deegan will continue his leadership position as run-on captain.
Coming up against the team that crushed the Force’s Grand Finals hopes in the semis last year, Sampson is expecting a tight game as both sides fight to assert their dominance in the new season.
“They have a lot of Reds players in the Queensland Country side and though they are young they have a couple of years of Super Rugby experience under their belt now,” Sampson said.
“They have a lot of speed out wide so that they will be a handful for us to manage.”
