St.George Queensland Reds head coach Rama Chand has today confirmed his match-day-23 for the side’s Buildcorp Super W Grand Final clash against the NSW Waratahs Women in Coffs Harbour this Saturday, 3 July.
Only two changes have been made to the side that secured a 54-5 win over the President’s XV on Wednesday.
In the starting XV, after making her return from a knee injury on Wednesday, Wallaroos, Queensland and Wests stalwart Liz Patu has been promoted to the starting line-up at hooker, seeing her club teammate Tiarna Molloy shift to the reserves.
In the reserves, Easts playmaker Loreta Lealiifano has been recalled to the side, coming in for Asako Ono who has been ruled out through injury.
“Once again we’ve named a strong side and we’ve been able to reward the players who performed against the President’s XV,” said Chand.
“Heading into this match, we’re in a much better position than we were in Round 1. 2021 has seen us introduce a lot of new players to Super W and with each match we have seen them improve as a group and individually as players.
“We wanted to be in this position, to be contesting a grand final, and it’s great that our group have reached this point, but we have a hard task ahead of us.
“The Waratahs will be a tough challenge this weekend, they’re undefeated in Super W, but for most of our group, they’ve only faced them in one match and they’re keen to turn that result around this Saturday.
“We have a focus on what we need to deliver in terms of our own game plan this weekend and we will need to be accurate in everything we do. The group has gotten a lot tighter everyday in camp and there is a good vibe amongst the squad at the moment.
“The players have been away for some time now and with everything going on at home, we know we still have a lot of support from the players family, friends, clubs and the wider Queensland Rugby community. We want to deliver for them and do them proud this Saturday.”
The Buildcorp Super W final kicks off at 1:30pm AEST on Saturday, 3 July, at C.EX Coffs International Stadium and will be broadcast LIVE and ad free on Stan Sport.
