{"id":94146,"date":"2021-07-02T07:10:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T07:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=94146"},"modified":"2021-07-02T08:57:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T08:57:17","slug":"reds-get-major-boost-for-super-w-grand-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=94146","title":{"rendered":"Reds get major boost for Super W grand final"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Reds have received a major boost ahead of Saturday's Super W grand final against the Waratahs, with former Wallaroos captain Liz Patu deemed fit to start at hooker.<\/p>\n

Patu made her return from a knee injury via the reserves bench in Wednesday's 54-5 win over the President's XV.<\/p>\n

Her promotion ahead of Tiarna Molloy is the only change to Reds coach Rama Chand's starting side for the decider in Coffs Harbour (1.30pm AEST, live on Stan Sport).<\/p>\n

Stan Sport is your home for international rugby and the only place to watch the British and Irish Lions tour, Wallabies and All Blacks Tests and more. Start your free trial now!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Once again we've named a strong side and we've been able to reward the players who performed against the President's XV," Chand said.<\/p>\n

The Reds have never beaten the defending champion Waratahs in Super W and were outclassed 47-26 in Brisbane in round one.<\/a><\/p>\n

NSW winger Maya Stewart scored four tries in that match.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Horrific injury ends Aussie star's Olympic dream<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> All Blacks star's surprise Olympics sevens snub<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Coach tasked with finding Wallabies' 'dark side'<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Heading into this match, we're in a much better position than we were in round one," Chand said.<\/p>\n

"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.<\/p>\n

"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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"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.<\/p>\n

"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.<\/p>\n

"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 player's family, friends, clubs and the wider Queensland rugby community. We want to deliver for them and do them proud this Saturday."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Waratahs coach Campbell Aitken has reverted to the same starting XV that toppled the Reds in round one, which sees Mahalia Murphy return to fullback and Arabella McKenzie shift back to flyhalf.<\/p>\n

McKenzie had a brilliant game at fullback on on Wednesday, scoring two first half tries and laying on another.<\/p>\n

Prop Eva Karpani and flanker Piper Duck return to bolster the pack, while the experienced Iliseva Batibasaga is back at halfback.<\/p>\n

WARATAHS (15-1):<\/strong> Mahalia Murphy, Maya Stewart, Georgina Friedrichs, Katrina Barker, Margot Vella, Arabella McKenzie, Iliseva Batibasaga, Grace Hamilton (c), Emily Chancellor, Piper Duck, Sera Naiqama, Kaitlan Leaney, Eva Karpani, Adiana Talakai, Emily Robinson<\/p>\n

Reserves:<\/strong> Penelope Leiataua, Brianna Hoy, Bridie O'Gorman, Skye Churchill, Fi Jones, Ash Walker, Pauline Piliae, Layne Morgan<\/p>\n

REDS (15-1):<\/strong> Kuana Lopa, Emily Bass, Melanie Wilks, Diaz Seumanutafa, Ivania Wong, Cobie-Jane Morgan (c), Destiny Brill, April Ngatupuna, Lucy Lockhart, Carola Kreis, Annabelle Codey, Aleena Greenhalgh, Christina Sekona, Liz Patu, Bree-Anna Cheatham<\/p>\n

Reserves:<\/strong> Tiarna Molloy, Maletina Brown, Hilisha Samoa, Lesa Kaleti Mataafa, Madi Shuck, Loretta Lealiifano, Cecilia Smith, Natalie Wright<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Reds have received a major boost ahead of Saturday's Super W grand final against the Waratahs, with former Wallaroos captain Liz Patu deemed fit […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94146"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94146"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94148,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94146\/revisions\/94148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}