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Injury-hit Reds put Lucas at five-eighth
May 06, 2009 - 8:02pm
Story by: AAP
Ben Lucas of the Reds in action
Ben Lucas of the Reds in action
Halfback Ben Lucas will guide injury-riddled Queensland's fortunes against the Crusaders from five-eighth after backline general Berrick Barnes was among eight players ruled out of the penultimate round Investec Super 14 clash.
Lucas slots into the playmaking position in one of the least experienced Reds teams ever selected while Quade Cooper moves back to fullback after vice-captain Barnes failed a fitness test at Ballymore on his injured groin.
Hooker Sean Hardman is the new captain as skipper James Horwill (foot) was also scratched along with fullback Mark McLinden (knee), flanker Tasi Luafutu (broken hand) and backline strike weapon Digby Ioane on Wednesday.
The blows come after halfback Will Genia (finger) and winger Peter Hynes (knee) were already ruled out after suffering injuries in the 52-13 thumping by the Brumbies, and star forward Hugh McMeniman suffered a season-ending ankle injury late last month.
In their worst injury crisis in Super Rugby, Queensland have 11 players from their official 32-man squad on the sidelines plus Academy winger Luke Morahan who played two matches last month.
Among the troubled dozen are their 10 most valuable players, making Friday's mountainous challenge against the defending champions Everest-like.
After delaying the announcement of his team eight hours on Wednesday due to a lack of numbers, coach Phil Mooney was also forced to leave the No.7 jersey up in the air when Luafutu failed to finish their twilight training run.
Luafutu wanted to play but was finally ruled out when he was unable to use his broken hand properly to tackle or pass the ball at the end of training.
Blindside flanker Scott Higginbotham has been bracketed with Andrew Shaw, the son of Wallabies great Tony Shaw, for the open-side starting role opposing Crusaders captain Richie McCaw.
Shaw is among three debutants named in the 22 along with back-up halfback Richard Kingi and Gold Coast centre Ben Tapuai, while uncontracted winger Ant Sauer was picked from Brisbane club Brothers to also sit on the bench.
Mooney also dumped former Wallabies prop Greg Holmes and replaced him with rising loose-head Ben Daley.
The Reds' woes were compounded by news that All Blacks skipper McCaw is set to start for the sixth-placed Crusaders who need a bonus-point victory at AMI Stadium to keep their semi-finals hopes alive.
Flanker McCaw came through a rigorous physical test at Crusaders training and declared himself available after missing their 32-20 win over the Lions in South Africa with concussion and headaches.
Lucas, who came through the juniors as a five-eighth, will face off against young All Black Stephen Brett as the Crusaders look to continue their nine-match winning streak over the Reds.
Queensland: Quade Cooper, Brando Va'aulu, Charlie Fetoai, Anthony Faingaa, Rodney Davies, Ben Lucas, Brendan McKibbin, Leroy Houston, Scott Higginbotham/Andrew Shaw, Ezra Taylor, Adam Byrnes, Van Humphries, Laurie Weeks, Sean Hardman ©, Ben Daley. Reserves: Saia Faingaa, Greg Holmes, Robert Simmons, Higginbotham/Shaw, Richard Kingi, Ben Tapuai, Anthony Sauer.[/b]
