St.George Queensland Women’s XV side named for opening Super W clash in Melbourne

The St.George Queensland Women’s XV match-day 23 has been named for their opening clash of the 2019 Super W competition against the Melbourne Rebels Women at Box Hill Rugby club on Sunday.
 
Head coach Moana Virtue will welcome back 13 players from the inaugural squad for the match, while ten new faces will feature for the Queensland side.
 
In the starting forward pack, veteran Wallaroo Liz Patu and Sunnybank’s Shannon Mato are the only two players from last year’s squad to be named, alongside six uncapped players including Wallaroos Alisha Hewett and Millie Boyle, as well as Scottish product Eilidh Sinclair.
 
In the backs, two new faces appear in scrum-half Cobie-Jane Morgan and outside centre Cecilia Smith. Having featured for NSW and the Brumbies respectively in the inaugural Super W season, both players have made the move to Queensland in the off-season adding to the squad’s depth.
 
Morgan and Smith will line up alongside some of Queensland’s best performers from the first season of Super W, including player of the 2018 grand final Lavina Gould, youth sensation Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, wingers Alana Elisaia and Ivania Gould as well as fullback Lori Cramer.
 
In the reserves, experienced campaigners including Wallaroos Ivy Kaleta, Hana Ngaha, Kiri Lingman and new Australia Sevens representative Samantha Treherne will provide plenty of impact from the bench. Prop Ana Fotu and lock Vetekina Aho-Fangaloka are both in-line for their Super W debuts, having previously represented Queensland in the National Championships prior to the Super W’s inception.
 
Head coach Virtue said: “We’ve put together a really strong side for our opening clash of the 2019 season.
 
“We started with over 100 girls registering for trials back in November, before selecting a squad of 50 girls, which we then selected the final group from. Everyone has been working really hard to earn their place in the squad which made landing on a final match-day 23 difficult.  
 
“We have a mix of experience and players new to Super W, but we’re lucky that some of the new faces have previous involvement at both state and international level.”
 
Ahead of Round 1 Virtue has also selected a captain and vice-captain for 2019. Wallaroo Kiri Lingman has been selected as the squad captain, while fullback Lori Cramer has been named vice-captain. With Lingman set to come off the bench in Round 1, Cramer will captain the side.
 
“Kiri has a great Rugby brain, she brings a great amount of knowledge to the side, while Lori is massive for team culture and has a great work ethic,” said Virtue.
 
“We have a number of key leaders within the group but both Kiri and Lori will work well together to guide the team on and off the field.”
 
The Queensland Women’s XV kick off the Super W campaign against the Melbourne Rebels women at Box Hill Rugby club in Melbourne on Sunday, kicking off at 2:00pm AEST. The match will be broadcast live on Kayo as well as streamed on Rugby.com.au.
 

St.George Queesland Women’s XV side to face Melbourne Rebels Women:

1.     Liz Patu - Wests

2.     Averyl Mitchell* - University of Queesland

3.     Christina Sekona* - Sunnybank

4.     Alisha Hewett* – GPS/Australian Defence Force

5.     Saxon Campbell* - Redlands

6.     Millie Boyle* - Bond University

7.     Eilidh Sinclair* - Sunnybank

8.     Shannon Mato** - Sunnybank

9.     Cobie-Jane Morgan*** - Sunnybank

10.  Lavinia Gould – Wests

11.  Ivania Wong – Sunnybank

12.  Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea – Sunnybank

13.  Cecilia Smith*** - Brothers

14.  Alana Elisaia – Sunnybank

15.  Lori Cramer (C) – University of Queensland

 

Reserves

16.  Ivy Kaleta – Sunnybank

17.  Ana Fotu**** - University of Queensland

18.  Hana Ngaha – Souths

19.  Vetekina Aho-Fangaloka**** – Sunnybank

20.  Kiri Lingman – Sunnybank

21.  Asako Ono – University of Queensland

22.  Eseta Aho-Fangaloka – Sunnybank

23.  Samantha Treherne – Sunnybank

* Denotes Super W and Queensland debut

** Denotes Super W and Queensland starting debut

*** Denotes Queensland debut

**** Denotes potential Super W debut