Waratahs v Rebels – who will bounce back?

Both the Rebels and Waratahs will look to bounce back from defeats in Round 2 of the 2013 Super Rugby tournament, when the two sides face off in Sydney on Friday.

The Waratahs have made two changes to the team, with Wallabies prop Benn Robinson returning, and Mitchell Chapman moving into the lock position for Sitaleki Timani, who moves to the bench.

League and AFL-convert Israel Folau maintains his starting position, despite being hot and cold in last week’s encounter with the Reds.

For the Rebels, 22-year old James O’Connor has been handed the captaincy following the injury to Gareth Delve.

Despite the loss of Delve, the Rebels are boosted by the inclusion of Manly Marlin Jordy Reid, while Cadern Neville moves into the starting line-up.

The Rebels will need to try and recreate their Round 1 performance against the Force, where the forwards held dominance throughout the match, and the backline’s handling was impressive.

Kick-off is on Friday, 1^st March 2013, at 10:20am CAT (SA, GMT+2).

Waratahs team:

15. Israel Folau 14. Tom Kingston 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper 12. Tom Carter 11. Drew Mitchell 10. Bernard Foley 9. Brendan McKibbin 8. Wycliff Palu 7. Michael Hooper 6. Dave Dennis 5. Kane Douglas 4. Mitchell Chapman 3. Sekope Kepu  2. Tatafu Polota-Nau 1. Benn Robinson
Replacements 16. John Ulugia 17. Jeremy Tilse18. Paddy Ryan 19. Sitaleki Timani 20. Lopeti Timani 21. Matt Lucas 22. Ben Volavola

Rebels team:

15. James O’Connor (c) 14. Lachlan Mitchell 13. Mitch Inman 12. Rory Sidey 11. Richard Kingi 10. Kurtley Beale 9. Nick Phipps 8. Scott Higginbotham 7. Scott Fuglistaller 6. Luke Jones 5. Cadeyrn Neville 4. Hugh Pyle 3. Laurie Weeks 2. Ged Robinson (vc) 1. Nic Henderson
Replacements: 16. Shota Horie 17. Paul Alo-Emile 18. Jordy Reid 19. Jarrod Saffy 20. Nic Stirzaker 21. Angus Roberts 22. Tom English