The St.George Queensland Reds have announced a 26-man squad for their second pre-season fixture against the New South Wales Waratahs in Dalby tomorrow night.
23 of the 26 players named will back-up from last week’s 57-5 win over the Rebels in Gladstone, as the Reds ramp-up their preparations for next Friday’s Super Rugby opener against the Brumbies.
Henry Speight will start on the wing in his first outing for Queensland, while Jordan Petaia is set to line-up alongside James O’Connor in an exciting centre-pairing combination.
After playing in all eight matches for Brisbane City in last year’s National Rugby Championship (NRC), University of Queensland backrower Sam Wallis has been selected in tomorrow’s uncapped fixture after being invited to train with the Reds during the pre-season.
Reds head coach Brad Thorn said: “It’s great we can take another pre-season match to country Queensland. As a group, we’re looking forward to connecting with the Dalby community.
“The Waratahs will provide a good contest for us as we focus on our season opener against the Brumbies next week,” said Thorn.
It’ll be the first time in more than a decade Queensland has played New South Wales in a pre-season fixture in regional Queensland after last hosting the Waratahs in 2009 at Gold Park in Toowoomba.
Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) would like to thank Western Downs Regional Council and GrainCorp for supporting Queensland Rugby and for making tomorrow’s pre-season fixture in Dalby possible.
The Reds play the Waratahs at Dalby Leagues Club tomorrow night at 7:30pm AEST and will be live-streamed via reds.rugby
CLICK HERE for tickets to the Dalby pre-season match
