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Sydney Stars vs Melbourne Rising: NRC preview

Roar Guru
31st August, 2014
Teams

Melbourne Rising
1.Toby Smith (Melbourne Uni/Melbourne Rebels)
2.Pat Leafa (Box Hill/Melbourne Rebels) (Vice Captain)
3.Paul Alo-Emile (Power House/Melbourne Rebels)
4.Sam Jeffries (Melbourne Uni/Melbourne Rebels)
5.Cadeyrn Neville (Foostcray/Melbourne Rebels)
6.Luke Jones (Moorabbin/Melbourne Rebels)
7.Sean McMahon (Endeavour Hills/Melbourne Rebels)
8.Lopeti Timani (Footscray/Melbourne Rebels)
9.Nic Stirzaker (Endeavour Hills/Melbourne Rebels) (Captain)
10.Jack Debreczeni (Endeavour Hills/Melbourne Rebels)
11.Tom English (Melbourne Uni/Melbourne Rebels)
12.Mitch Inman (Southern Districts/Melbourne Rebels) (Vice Captain)
13.Sefanaia Naivalu (Box Hill)
14.Telusa Veainu (Melbourne/Melbourne Rebels)
15.Jonah Placid (Melbourne Rebels)

Replacements
16.Tom Sexton (Power House/Melbourne Rebels)
17.Tuiatua Tuia (Moorabbin)
18.Cruze Ah-Nau (Footscray/Melbourne Rebels)
19.OJ Noa (Harlequin)
20.Sione Taufa (Harlequin)
21.Ben Meehan (Box Hill/Melbourne Rebels)
22.Lloyd Johansson (Harlequin)
23.Joe Kamana (Moorabbin)

Sydney Stars
1. Jeremy Tilse
2. Tom Coolican
3. Paddy Ryan
4. Ryan Wilson
5. Will Skelton
6. Andrew Leota
7. Patrick McCutcheon (C)
8. Sam Quinn
9. Jock Merriman
10. Stuart Dunbar
11. Henry Clunies-Ross
12. Jonathan Fakai
13. Jim Stewart
14. James Dargaville
15. Mathew Kenny

Replacements
16. Jack Jones (FR)
17. Alasdair King (FR)
18. Tom Robertson (FR)
19. Byron Hodge
20. Hugo Dessens
21. Jake Gordon
22. Finau Makamaka

Venue: Leichardt Oval, Sydney
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Melbourne Rising will shoot for seven from seven (Image: AJF Photography)
Roar Guru
31st August, 2014
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2114 Reads

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.

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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?

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