3 minute read

The Reds have made mass changes for a crucial trip to Fiji, while the Waratahs will bring Argentinian Enrique Pieretto straight in to aid their injury crisis.

Flying winger Floyd Aubrey will start for the first time as part of sweeping changes by Les Kiss in a must-win game for the Queensland Reds' top-four Super Rugby Pacific hopes.

The Marist-schooled, Murgon-raised Indigenous product will be given his first big chance in Suva on Saturday since choosing rugby over the NRL, with Kiss managing dynamic winger Tim Ryan on the bench and resting Mac Grealy.

Suliasi Vunivalu will start on the other wing, and Seru Uru returns from a broken thumb on the bench.

Test hooker Matt Faessler and banged-up No.13 Josh Flook have also been rested.

Josh Nasser and Taj Annan will replace that pair, while Tate McDermott will start at halfback and James O'Connor shapes as a key late-game figure off the bench.

Two wins behind the fourth-placed Chiefs with three rounds remaining, the Reds must win in Fiji to remain in the hunt for a top-four finish and a home final.

"We're not watching the ladder intently and getting hijacked by it, but we know every win we put on the board puts pressure on other people," Kiss said.

"Get this win, it makes things possible.

"We've tried to go there fresh. A lot of lads are getting their first, second, third chance.

"It's a chance to change tack a bit."

Ryan has scored six tries in his past three games, but Aubrey poses his own threat in what is expected to be another wet Fijian affair.

"He's an instinctive type of player, those conditions often can suit him," Kiss said.

"He could do anything out of the blue, for sure."

Meanwhile, Argentinian signing Enrique Pieretto will start for the injury-ravaged Waratahs against the Western Force on Saturday, barely a week after he arrived in the country from the Glasgow Warriors on a loan deal.

Mark Nawaqanitawase will play fullback and Izaia Perese is back on the bench for captain Jake Gordon's 100th game.

The Force have made only minor tweaks to the team that beat the Drua last week, and can enter the top eight with victory at home.

The big guns are back for the Brumbies, Allan Alaalatoa to partner James Slipper in the front row and Noah Lolesio back in the No.10 to face the Crusaders in Canberra.

Sitting third, eight points clear of the Reds, victory would all but sew up a top-four finish for Stephen Larkham's contenders.

Flanker Brad Wilkin returns for the sixth-placed Melbourne Rebels after a long-term hamstring injury, and can do the Reds a favour by beating the Chiefs at home on Friday.

Prop Pone Fa'amausili is back in the fray after a one-week loan to the Waratahs, on the bench, with Taniela Tupou (concussion) to miss the clash.