Buildcorp National Rugby Championship (NRC) winner and Australian U20’s star Jake McIntyre will make his Asteron Life Super Rugby debut for the St.George Queensland Reds this Friday when they take on the Melbourne Rebels at Suncorp Stadium.
Starting at flyhalf, McIntyre’s debut will be in front of a home crowd in an important Australian Conference clash as the Rebels chase a position in the top six.
The young star’s Rugby journey progressed to Australian Schoolboys selections in 2011-2012 and reached new heights in 2014 when he guided the Australian U20’s to a fifth place finish in the World Rugby U20 Championship in New Zealand. This was a result which hadn’t been achieved by the team since 2011.
Later that year, McIntyre led Brisbane City to a 37-26 Buildcorp NRC Championship victory over the Perth Spirit in front of a 7,800 strong home crowd at Ballymore Stadium.
In light of the call up, Reds Coach Richard Graham said, “Jake (McIntyre) and I had a discussion about an opportunity for him a few weeks ago. He had a long stint out following the NRC and just needed some time playing club Rugby.
“We almost gave him a debut last week but felt it was in his best interests to play 80 minutes more on the weekend for Sunnybank.”
The coach also gave his support in allowing McIntyre to develop.
“In these times it is not for the team to expect Jake and Sam to solve our problems. They need to be allowed to perform their own roles and the rest of the team needs step up and give them options and opportunity to do that.”
The Reds will play the Melbourne Rebels at Suncorp Stadium this Friday at 7:40pm AEST. Tickets are available at www.redsrugby.com.au. The match will also be broadcasted live on Fox Sports 2 & 2HD.
As part of Ladies Round, the Reds will wear specially-designed jerseys featuring the Mater Little Miracles logo in support of the program which supports seriously ill and premature babies at Mater Mothers’ Hospitals.
