Roar Guru
The Sydney Stars are at home for the first time as they host a Melbourne Rising coming off a strong opening win in Melbourne. All the action kicks off from 3:00pm (AEST).
Packed with Super Rugby players, the Rising are a side to watch out for this season and will be looking to continue their impressive opening-round form, when they ran eight tries past a spirited Northern Rays.
The Rising played an exciting brand of rugby, showing a willingness to move the ball around, and their backs look particularly threatening.
The midfield combination of Mitch Inman and Sefanaia Naivalu is one to watch and could cause some real headaches for opposition defences throughout the competition.
The only change to the Rising line-up is the inclusion of Australian Under 20 captain Sean McMahon at openside flanker. Expect the talented young breakaway to have a big impact on the outcome of the game.
The Stars suffered an opening day loss in Brisbane and will look to the inclusion of boom Waratahs and Wallaby lock Will Skelton to add some punch to their forward pack. It will be interesting to see how Skelton copes with the speed of the game; if it’s anything like last week he may be wishing he was on the reserves bench.
The Stars got off to a quick start in the opening round, grabbing four quick-fire tries, but eventually ran out of steam and will be looking for a more sustained effort this weekend in front of their home fans.
The loss of Peter Betham into the Wallabies camp will affect the Stars attack and experience at the back but there should be enough talent in their squad to cover this.
Prediction
On paper this Rising side looks a little too strong for the Stars but home ground advantage is a great leveller. On that basis I am picking the Rising by 5 in a high scoring spectacle.
Can the Stars pick up their first win of the season or will the Rising make it two from two?