Western Sydney Rams vs Melbourne Rebels, preview
Western Sydney Rams vs Melbourne Rebels, preview
26/08/2007
Venue & time
Parramatta Stadium (Sydney), Sunday 4pm (AEST)
Head to head
Debut clash
Walking wounded & team changes
Rams flyhalf Kurtley Beale has shrugged off a shoulder injury form last week's thrilling win over the Rays and will take his place in the starting line-up against the Rebels. Prop James Lakepa is not so lucky, he has been ruled out with a strained calf. Aaron Broughton-Rouse comes into the front row.
The Melbourne Rebels have announced an unchanged line-up from the one that beat the East Coast Aces last week.
Form
The Rams seemed out of sorts when forced to defend heavily against the Perth Spirit in the opening round of the Mazda ARC but really hit their straps in a high-scoring win over the Central Coast Rays last week and are starting to realise their full potential.
The Melbourne Rebels have been the surprise team in the Mazda ARC with two wins from two matches to sit alone at the top of the table. They engineered a comeback win over the Vikings in Canberra and carried that momentum to a good win over the Aces at home last start.
Who's hot
Kurtley Beale turned in a masterful performance last week to unstitched the Rays in Gosford. Inside centre Chris Siale also proved elusive in the backline while lock Van Humphries and number eight Tom Egan featured in the forwards.
Rebels skipper David Croft continues to play out of his skin and is the form flanker in the competition. Loose forward partner David Dennis is giving great support to Croft while fullback Nathan Trist is also in sparkling form.
Teams
Western Sydney Rams
1. Ben Alexander,
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (vc),
3. James Lakepa,
4. Ben Hand (c),
5. Van Humphries,
6. Gareth Palamo,
7. Wil Brame,
8. Tom Egan,
9. Josh Holmes,
10. Kurtley Beale,
11. Fa’atonu Fili,
12. Chris Siale,
13. Lachlan Mitchell,
14. Ben Martin,
15. Lachie Turner (vc).
16. Ben Roberts,
17. Aaron Broughton-Rouse,
18. Mark Howell,
19. Ben Coridas,
20. Dave Rimmer,
21. Rory Sidey,
22. Filipo Toala.
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
