It's a big afternoon of rugby in New South Wales, as the Emerging Waratahs take on the Melbourne Rising at David Phillips Sports Complex this Friday.
With the Super W and Super Rugby squads playing fixtures at Bankwest Stadium, the Emerging Waratahs will play out of NSW Rugby Headquarters in Daceyville.
This has seen Head Coach, Shannon Fraser forced into changes to the squad that comfortably took care of the Brumby Runners last week, with a number of players in Parramatta for the Lions clash,
Michael McDonald joins the starting XV to pair up with Mack Mason in the halves, Ben Donaldson replaces James Ramm at fullback due to his selection in Super Rugby and Nathan Den Hoedt will line up with Pat Tafa in the second row.
Siosifa Lisala remains on the right wing after an impressive performance last Friday, while the Moeroa-Walton combination in midfield will also continue.
Young guns Tane Edmed, Henry Robertson and Jeremy Williams all get their chance from the reserves.
Emerging NSW Waratahs team announcement:
| No. | Position | name |
| 1 | LOOSEHEAD PROP | RORY O'CONNOR |
| 2 | HOOKER | ANDREW TUALA |
| 3 | TIGHTHEAD PROP | CHRIS TALAKAI |
| 4 | LEFT LOCK | NATHAN DEN HOEDT |
| 5 | RIGHT LOCK | PAT TAFA |
| 6 | LEFT FLANKER | WILL HARRIS |
| 7 | RIGHT FLANKER | CHARLIE GAMBLE |
| 8 | NUMBER EIGHT | HUGH SINCLAIR (c) |
| 9 | SCRUMHALF | MICHAEL MCDONALD |
| 10 | FLYHALF | MACK MASON |
| 11 | LEFT WING | CAM CLARK |
| 12 | INSIDE CENTRE | TEPAI MOEROA |
| 13 | OUTSIDE CENTRE | JOEY WALTON |
| 14 | RIGHT WING | SIOSIFA LISALA |
| 15 | FULLBACK | BEN DONALDSON |
| Replacements: | ||
| 16. | RESERVE | JOE COTTON |
| 17. | RESERVE | DARCY BREEN |
| 18. | RESERVE | CHARLIE ABEL |
| 19. | RESERVE | NICK DE CRESPIGNY |
| 20. | RESERVE | JEREMY WILLIAMS |
| 21. | RESERVE | HENRY ROBERTSON |
| 22. | RESERVE | TANE EDMED |
| 23. | RESERVE | TRISTON REILLY |
| 24. | RESERVE | CARLO TIZZANO |
'A' Fixtures
Emerging NSW Waratahs v Melbourne Rising
Friday 28 February
Kick off: 2pm (local)
David Phillips Sports Complex
