Lynagh benched for Chiefs clash, Suaalii's Tahs switch
The Queensland Reds have restocked for their top-of-the-table clash with the Chiefs in Hamilton, but left an ace up their sleeve after naming in-form No.10 Tom Lynagh on the bench.
Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson are among seven Wallabies returning on Friday for the Reds, who occupy Super Rugby's top rung for the first time since 2012.
Fullback Jock Campbell (wrist) will start on the bench alongside Lynagh, giving Harry McLaughlin-Phillips another shot in the No.10 alongside captain and halfback Tate McDermott.
Hooker Matt Faessler is also back from injury, so too Hunter Paisami (nose) in the centres with 20-year-old powerhouse Dre Pakeho, as strike weapon Filipo Daugunu shifts to the wing.
Seru Uru and Tim Ryan have been rested for the clash with the sides 3-3 in recent meetings, four of those in games decided by less than seven points.
But the Chiefs are 19-2 in their last 21 games at FMG Stadium and dominated the Reds there in last season's quarter-final.
"We've shown we are robust and resilient and that our skills have come through to solve problems at the right time," coach Les Kiss said. "This is another challenge to aim up to in Hamilton against a team that has shown they are right on top of their game."
Meanwhile, Dan Botha will start ahead of Test star Taniela Tupou in the front row for the NSW Waratahs against Moana Pasifika in Auckland on Saturday.
"I had a good conversation with Taniela about this selection," coach Dan McKellar said of Tupou's move to the bench. "He understands that he has a massive role to play when he comes on, bringing energy, power and leadership in that crucial final period. "His ability to change the momentum of a game is a real asset for us."
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will start at fullback in his second game since returning from a foot injury.
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Named in the centres last week, the cross-code star spent time at the back after incumbent Max Jorgensen was forced off with an ankle injury.
"He can provide the stability and counter-attacking ability we need at fullback, particularly against a team that likes to play expansively like Moana Pasifika," McKellar said.
Wallabies hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa will return for the Western Force along with backrower Vaiolini Ekuasi against the Highlanders in Perth on Saturday.
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Boston Globe
22 minutes ago
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Shigeo Nagashima, ‘Mr. Baseball' of postwar Japan, dies at 89
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(Ohtani offered his condolences on Instagram, posting photos of himself with the aging icon.) Advertisement After ending his playing career in 1974 (his number, 3, was retired), Mr. Nagashima became the team's manager. He was far less successful in that role, at least initially. He pushed his players -- some of whom were his former teammates -- to work as hard as he did. 'Bashing the players this year cultivates spirit,' he told The Japan Times. In his first season, the Giants finished in last place for the first time. The next two years, they won the Central League pennant but lost the Japan Series. The Giants failed to win their division for the next three years, and Mr. Nagashima was let go in 1980. Shigeo Nagashima was born Feb. 20, 1936, in Sakura, in Chiba prefecture. His father, Toshi, was a municipal worker and his mother, Chiyo, was a homemaker. He grew up rooting for the Hanshin Tigers, the Giants' archrival. 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Chicago Tribune
23 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
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Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
SuperSonics fans feel no allegiance to the Thunder in these NBA Finals. Go Pacers, the scornful say
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(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) FILE - Stacks of Seattle SuperSonics caps are displayed in a shop, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Seattle, near where a proposed basketball arena is to be built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton celebrates after a teammate made a 3-pointer during the second half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) reacts during the second half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips) FILE - A skateboarder leaps onto a platform in front of KeyArena, a sports and entertainment venue and former home of the Seattle SuperSonics NBA basketball tean, Dec. 4, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) FILE - Stacks of Seattle SuperSonics caps are displayed in a shop, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Seattle, near where a proposed basketball arena is to be built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) SEATTLE (AP) — It's logical to think someone like Danny Ball is a fair representation of Seattle these days. Ball, a hoops fan who runs an Instagram account called 'Iconic Sonics,' is pulling for the Indiana Pacers over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. Advertisement There are no deep ties between Seattle and Indianapolis. The Seahawks play the Colts this December, so the cities will be foes that weekend. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever probably won't be warmly welcomed when they visit the Emerald City later this month to play the Seattle Storm. But right now, Seattle may as well be an Indy suburb. Seattle fans lost their NBA franchise, the SuperSonics, in 2008 when it was stolen from them and rebranded in Oklahoma City. For the scornful, that means one thing: Go Pacers. 'I'd love to see the Pacers pull it off in six games,' Ball said. The NBA Finals begin Thursday night. For some in Seattle, it'll be a heaping helping of fresh salt on the wounds that opened when the Sonics were taken away. And people like Ball, who grew up in Seattle hearing stories of Sonics legends like Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, aren't exactly rooting for Oklahoma City right now. Advertisement The Thunder are heavy favorites to beat the Pacers. Should they pull it off, the Thunder would claim their first NBA title in Oklahoma City, but technically their second as a franchise after Seattle won the title in 1979. It's no secret the city wants the league to come back. Expansion is on the NBA's to-do list, and it's likely that talks — the first of many, many steps in this process — could start in earnest with interested cities in the next few months. Commissioner Adam Silver, however, hasn't fully committed to adding new teams. 'The issue I would not have anticipated at the time I sort of began talking about the timeline is how much unknown there is about local media right now,' Silver said earlier this year. 'Having said that, though, I would just say again to our many fans in Seattle, and I hear from them often, and the legacy of the Sonics is still very strong and it's a fantastic basketball market, is that we are very focused on it. … We don't take those fans for granted. We're thankful that the interest has remained over all these years.' Any mention of expansion sends fans into a tizzy. Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, spoke to the crowd before a preseason game in Seattle — his hometown — in 2023, and made a thinly veiled reference to how fans need to remind the league's New York office how much the city loves the game. Advertisement 'All night long, it better be loud enough in this building to hear us all the way back in New York, if you get me,' Ballmer told the crowd. 'Let's make sure we're loud tonight.' And then came the Ballmer bellow: 'Go Seattle,' he screamed. It's something Seattle takes seriously, as Mayor Bruce Harrell learned earlier this year in his address to the city. 'Right now, at this moment, I have an announcement to make,' Harrell said, reaching into the lectern where he was standing and pulling out a basketball, spinning it in his hands as he displayed it to the crowd — which began roaring. 'Ah, I'm just kidding.' Advertisement The crowd wasn't amused. Harrell later was interviewed by Seattle's KOMO News and apologized for the attempt at humor, getting reminded that residents of the city aren't happy that the NBA hasn't returned yet. 'Count me among them,' Harrell said. A very real void has been left in the SuperSonics' absence. The NHL's Seattle Kraken entering the fold has helped, as has the success of the WNBA's Seattle Storm, both of whom play at Climate Pledge Arena, which sits on the site of the SuperSonics' former home. That same arena received a significant remodel ahead of the Kraken arriving, which could make it suitable for NBA games. That would ultimately be up to the association to decide one day, but Ball hopes it would be the Sonics' former home in the Queen Anne neighborhood they get to triumphantly return to one day. Advertisement 'A lot of Sonics fans that I know I'm sure never got over the wounds of what happened here 17 years ago with them leaving (for) Oklahoma City,' SuperSonics fan Eric Phan said. 'All of the Sonics fanbase (is) rooting for the Indiana Pacers.' Seattle seemed to have a chance at getting a team back in 2013 when the Maloof family put the Sacramento Kings up for sale. But investor Chris Hansen's bid to relocate the team to Seattle was rejected by the NBA's Board of Governors. For fans like Ball and Phan, hope lives on. Ball recognizes that's partially because he is an inherently positive person, and he's hoping for a Hollywood ending. 'It would be poetic if the year that OKC wins the finals — if that occurs — is in the same summer that the league comes out and says, 'Hey, we're forming an expansion committee to start really exploring this process,'' Ball said. 'I think that would help damper or therapize the feelings and emotions that would come along with seeing the Thunder hoist the Larry O'Brien.' Advertisement Phan pointed out that just because the Sonics don't play in Seattle, it doesn't mean the team is truly gone. 'You can see people walking the sidewalks and streets of Seattle, and even the suburbs,' Phan said. 'People are wearing Sonics gear like they never really left.' ___ AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Oklahoma City contributed. ___ AP NBA:
