{"id":439534,"date":"2026-01-26T23:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/439534\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T23:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:49:09","slug":"brumbies-announce-team-for-first-trial-versus-western-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/439534\/","title":{"rendered":"Brumbies announce team for first trial versus Western Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

ACT Brumbies Head Coach Stephen Larkham has named his squad for the club\u2019s first trial match of the 2026 season, with the Brumbies set to face the Western Force in Perth on Friday, January 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The match represents the first opportunity to see the 2026 editionof the Brumbies, with a number of younger players earning valuable minutes as they push for Round 1 selection ahead of the Swyftx Super Rugby Pacific season opener on February 14 \u2014 also against the Force in Perth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Props Lington Leli and Rhys van Nek will bookend the scrum, both earning the chance to impress after spending time with Australia A in recent years. The pair step into the starting side with Brumbies mainstays James Slipper rested and Allan Alaalatoa managing an injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chris Mickelson gets the nod at hooker after a standout year in the John I Dent Cup, where he claimed the Macdougall Medal as the competition\u2019s best player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The locking combination of Harvey Cordukes and Lachlan Shaw will pack down together, with the towering duo looking to build on promising 2025 seasons and continue their development at Super Rugby level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Backrow bruisers Tuaina Taii Tualima, Rory Scott, and Charlie Cale combine physicality, work rate and attacking threat on both sides of the ball. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In the halves, Klayton Thorn will start at scrumhalf and partner new recruit Tane Edmed [pictured], who begins his life in the nation\u2019s capital getting his first opportunity to don the Brumbies colours ahead of the 2026 campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The outside backs see Kye Oates and Shane Wilcox named on the wings. Oates, a proud Nunukul, Ngughi and Goenpul man, was last year selected in the inaugural First Nations & Pasifika XV to take on the British & Irish Lions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the midfield, fellow First Nations & Pasifika XV rep, Jarrah Macleod continues his rapid rise through the rugby ranks and will look to impress Head Coach Stephen Larkham alongside the ever-reliable Hudson Creighton at outside centre. \u00a0<\/p>\n

At fullback, Declan Meredith showcases his versatility by shifting from his usual fly-half role to the backfield, providing the Brumbies with dual playmaking options. Meredith starts at 15 with star fullback Tom Wright continuing his recovery from injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trial match will be live-streamed via the Western Force Facebook page<\/a>, giving fans their first look at the Brumbies in action this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ACT Brumbies v Western Force \u2013 Trial Match\u00a0

\n\tDate: Thursday, January 30\u00a0

\n\tTime: 7.35PM AEDT

\n\tLocation: Scotch College Playing Fields, Swanbourne\u00a0

\n\tLive Stream: Western Force Facebook \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

ACT Brumbies team to play Western Force\u00a0<\/p>\n

LOOSEHEAD PROP – Lington Ieli \u00a0

\n\tHOOKER – Chris Mickelson \u00a0

\n\tTIGHTHEAD PROP – Rhys van Nek \u00a0

\n\tLEFT LOCK – Lachlan Shaw \u00a0

\n\tRIGHT LOCK – Harvey Cordukes \u00a0

\n\tLEFT FLANKER – Tuaina Tualima \u00a0

\n\tRIGHT FLANKER – Rory Scott \u00a0

\n\tNUMBER EIGHT – Charlie Cale \u00a0

\n\tSCRUMHALF – Klayton Thorn \u00a0

\n\tFLYHALF – Tane Edmed \u00a0

\n\tLEFT WING – Kye Oates \u00a0

\n\tINSIDE CENTRE – Jarrah McLeod \u00a0

\n\tOUTSIDE CENTRE – Hudson Creighton \u00a0

\n\tRIGHT WING – Shane Wilcox \u00a0

\n\tFULLBACK – Declan Meredith\u00a0<\/p>\n

Replacements\u00a0

\n\tLiam Bowron \u00a0

\n\tBlake Schoupp \u00a0

\n\tTevita Alatini \u00a0

\n\tCadeyrn Neville \u00a0

\n\tEli Langi \u00a0

\n\tDan Nelson \u00a0

\n\tAndy Muirhead \u00a0

\n\tKadin Pritchard \u00a0

\n\tMoses Sorovi \u00a0

\n\tAustin Anderson \u00a0

\n\tToby Macpherson \u00a0

\n\tJudah Saumaisue \u00a0

\n\tDarcy Breen\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ACT Brumbies Head Coach Stephen Larkham has named his squad for the club\u2019s first trial match of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-439534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}