James O’Connor has been benched by the Queensland Reds in favour of third-choice playmaker Lawson Creighton, while Suliasi Vunivalu has been axed from the side to face the ACT Brumbies.
The pair paid the price for their off-colour showings in last Friday’s loss to the Crusaders, with Vunivalu’s demotion coming in the same week he was included in Eddie Jones’ first Wallabies training squad.
With 19-year-old five-eighth Tom Lynagh still exhibiting concussion symptoms, Reds coach Brad Thorn called up Creighton for the first time this season to take on the Brumbies on Friday night.
O’Connor was replaced as first-choice kicker by Isaac Henry last week and was poor generally off the boot against the Crusaders, while Vunivalu laboured in a display that appeared lacking in confidence after a spate of hamstring injuries.
Brumbies boss Stephen Larkham was coy when asked about O’Connor and Vunivalu’s demotions, but needs no reminding of the impact the former can make in a bench role.
O’Connor changed the game off the pine when they met at GIO Stadium before the Brumbies hung on for a narrow win.
“There’s a couple of key players in their team I don’t want to mention that we’ve certainly identified as some threats and we’ll be wary of what they can bring,” Larkham said.
“At the same time there’s a couple we want to target in there as well.
“They’re similar to us, we’ve got Ryan Lonergan and Jack Debrezceni coming off the bench and they steered the ship for us … we’ll be expecting they do the same this week when they come on to hopefully nullify anything they bring.”
The Reds are 2-4 while the Brumbies (5-1) are third overall and the best-placed Australian outfit.
The Brumbies named an unchanged starting side to the one that beat the NSW Waratahs 40-36 last Saturday in a match-of-the-year contender.
Meanwhile, Queensland second-rowers Angus Blyth and Seru Uru have both signed two-year extensions with the Reds, following Lynagh’s commitment to the club until 2025 earlier in the week.
ACT BRUMBIES: James Slipper, Lachlan Lonergan, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Cadeyrn Neville, Rob Valetini, Rory Scott, Pete Samu, Nic White, Noah Lolesio, Corey Toole, Tamati Tua, Len Ikitau, Andy Muirhead, Tom Wright. BENCH: Billy Pollard, Blake Schoupp, Rhys Van Nek, Darcy Swain, Luke Reimer, Ryan Lonergan, Jack Debreczeni, Ben O’Donnell.
QUEENSLAND REDS: Peni Ravai, Matt Faessler, Phransis Sula-Siaosi, Angus Blyth, Seru Uru, Liam Wright (cc), Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Tate McDermott (cc), Lawson Creighton, Filipo Daugunu, Isaac Henry, Josh Flook, Jordan Petaia, Jock Campbell. BENCH: Richie Asiata, Dane Zander, Zane Nonggorr, Ryan Smith, Jake Upfield, Kalani Thomas, James O’Connor, Taj Annan.
