Samu Kerevi retains Reds captaincy as Stephen Moore returns

Despite the return of Stephen Moore, Reds coach Nick Stiles has retained Test centre Samu Kerevi as captain.

The Reds have retained Samu Kerevi as skipper despite the return of Stephen Moore. Picture: Tim Marsden

While NSW have restored the hardheads — Test veterans Sekope Kepu, Dean Mumm and Nick Phipps — Queensland have entrusted their captaincy to a novice for tomorrow’s interstate clash at Suncorp Stadium.

Despite the return of Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore to the Queensland side, Reds coach Nick Stiles has retained Test centre Samu Kerevi as captain, a role he has filled only once before. Then again, he has a 100 per cent winning record, leading the Reds to a last-start 47-35 victory over the Southern Kings.

Admittedly, Moore was totally in favour of the idea and felt that “having a 34-year-old taking over the captaincy” might not work for Queensland’s long-term planning. That was a role Stiles indicated Kerevi might well grow into, but when you are just two wins from eight and the whole season is on the line, it’s the short-term planning that tends to take precedence.

“He (Kerevi) is extremely hardworking, he’s respected within the group and he’s really grown in confidence around his leadership style,” Stiles said.

“He has such a presence, particularly with all the Polynesian players we have in the group. You can just see them lift playing behind him.”

Certainly it’s an insightful appointment, with nigh on two-thirds of the Reds players having Polynesian ancestry.

Moore’s return to hooker in place of Alex Mafi is the only change to the starting side, with most of the movement happening on the bench, where lock Isack Rodda, No 8 Leroy Houston and centre Campbell Magnay all return from injury to add some strike power to the finishers.

NSW have opted for strike power in their starting side, with each of the returning Wallabies expected to solve some of the Tahs’ recurring problems. Kepu will help shore up the scrum, which has been leaking penalties at a costly rate, Mumm hopefully will restore order to a semi-­dysfunctional lineout while Phipps has the most important role of all, restoring urgency to the side.

NSW captain Michael Hooper went straight to the heart of the matter when asked what the review of the Kings game last week had revealed.

“The urgency was the biggest factor,” he said. “We has a good start but just the enthusiasm we saw from the Kings, they out-­enthused us and their urgency was much better. That’s how you turn 50-50 balls into your own, with urgency, wanting to get there, and I don’t think we had that on the weekend.”

Phipps has it in spades. What’s more, he is an interstate specialist and has been an inspirational figure in just about all the six straight NSW wins over Queensland, stretching back to 2013.

“He was fantastic against the Reds last year,” Hooper said. “He loves starting and he loves playing the Reds. Now he has to deliver for the rest of the team.”

The Tahs, indeed, have selected their side very much with the opposition in mind, with former Queenslander Matt Lucas on the bench as back-up halfback. That has meant “rotating” recent regular halfback Jake Gordon, who has been one of the Waratahs’ few shining lights this season. This might be an opportunity for him to watch and learn from the veterans.

NSW assistant coach Chris Malone was hard-pressed to guess how the Reds might play the game, though with Quade Cooper running the show at five-eighth, he expected there might be tricks aplenty.

But he does know the Queenslanders well enough to expect they would have brought in the old-and-bold to rev up today’s generation of players.

“They’ll have steam coming out of their ears,” he warned.

Meanwhile, Western Force coach Dave Wessels has pulled a surprise by leaving regular playmaker Jono Lance on the bench and entrusting the five-eighth duties to Luke Burton against the Lions at NIB Stadium tomorrow.

There is no question that Burton deserves to be retained at 10 after his outstanding display against the Chiefs last weekend but the surprise is that he did not use Lance, one of his most experienced players, at fullback in place of injured Wallaby Dane Haylett-Petty. Instead, he has turned again to his Mr Fixit, Marcel Brache.

Similarly, tackling machine Richard Hardwick has been assigned a bench role, with Isi Nairarani earning the starting role at No 8. He has made quite an impression this season with ball in hand and clearly Wessels — who hasn’t been able to call on injured Test second-rower Adam Coleman this week — is intent on attacking the Lions at their strength, their offence.