Date & Time: Saturday, 12 September 2026, 1:30pm AEST (11:30am WST)
Venue: Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane
Broadcast: Stan Sport, Rugby.com.au, YouTube
The Lowdown
Vern Cotter steps into the main box for his head coaching debut with Queensland, facing a Western Force side loaded with local Perth talent and high-profile recruits. The headliner at Ballymore is the long-awaited return of Tom Lynagh at flyhalf. Following a frustrating nine-month stretch sidelined by calf and hamstring issues that restricted him to just 17 minutes of Super Rugby Pacific action, the 2025 Wallabies Test pivot will likely get a managed 40-minute stint to stake his claim for the upcoming Springboks series.
The scriptwriters hit the mark by pairing Lynagh directly against former Reds teammate Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, who starts at 10 for Perth after guiding Wests Bulldogs to the Hospital Cup decider. Out wide, Lachie Anderson captains Queensland for the first time, while local club standouts Mosiah Christian at scrumhalf and Josh Takai at inside centre earn well-deserved starts.
Perth brings plenty of punch with Nic Dolly leading from hooker, code-hopper Zac Lomax shifting to outside centre alongside Boston Fakafanua, and Aussie 7s speedster Wallace Charlie starting on the wing. Keep an eye on the closing quarter when Queensland brings Jock Campbell and Zane Nonggorr off the pine, while the Force unleash veteran Wallaby Kurtley Beale.
Underdog’s Tip
Queensland should build a solid set-piece platform early through Matt Faessler, but the Force have enough backline speed to stay well within the contest once Kurtley Beale enters the fray late.
Reds by 8 points.
Team Lists
Team lists are correct as of release via Rugby Australia on Wednesday.
Queensland Reds
- George Blake, 2. Matt Faessler, 3. Nick Bloomfield, 4. Will Ross, 5. Charlie Brosnan, 6. Tom Robinson, 7. John Bryant, 8. Joe Brial, 9. Mosiah Christian, 10. Tom Lynagh, 11. Tim Ryan, 12. Josh Takai, 13. Josh Flook, 14. Lachie Anderson (c), 15. Will McCulloch.
Replacements: 16. Zac Hough, 17. Harrison Usher, 18. Zane Nonggorr, 19. Kenneth Harris, 20. Vaiuta Latu, 21. Cooper Stewart, 22. Ben Volavola, 23. Jake Pappin, 24. Trevor King, 25. Jock Campbell.
Western Force
- Max Sawers, 2. Nic Dolly (c), 3. Brad Kuhn, 4. Will Harris, 5. Zak Healey, 6. Kane Koteka, 7. Jack Daly, 8. Jackson Iose, 9. Nathan Hastie, 10. Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, 11. Wallace Charlie, 12. Boston Fakafanua, 13. Zac Lomax, 14. Ronan Leahy, 15. Mac Grealy.
Replacements: 16. Albert Alcock, 17. Junior Passi, 18. Regin Pratt, 19. Wil Taylor, 20. Seta Baker, 21. Tama Anderson, 22. Luke Aiken, 23. Tim Sail, 24. Kurtley Beale, 25. Sam Faoagali.
Scroll inside the box for match stats
And Brumbies to win
Nice work lads
No pressure Harry.
But don’t bloody miss
Reds have errored their way to a loss. Should have gone 3 8-10 minutes ago
Force never gave up. Showed some great skills but Q gave them a leg up with so many errors and lacking in tactical nouse on occasions.
Ref/Force gave them quite a leg up in the first though, too.
I think the player with most yards in the first 40 was ‘offside gold’.
Very entertaining match. Great start to the series
The Kurtley skid, haven’t seen that in a while
KB still slipping over in Qld
It’s something I’ve not forgotten.
What a silly kick. 4 minutes to go and Q gives the ball away.
You could probably provide at least the odd angle that doesn’t look like the ground is completely dead empty
Can see at least 4 people
They’re a noisy 4
Anyone who’s anyone is in the corner near the bar, on xxxx hill
Hold the ball. !!!!!!!
Alcock having a blinder so far
My first look at him. Seems handy
Capped it with a try
Liking the energy from the youngsters
Lovely play there. Ref did well to get there too.
Why do Aussies always try a 50/50 when they have a penalty advantage? Need some patience
More often the 10/90 miracle play
Was thinking same as I typed
Is it the DNA in the Jeans
What was that sKurtley
Yeah he fell straight on him because he was lying on the wrong side of the ruck ref.
Lomax proving he’s better in the air than Suaalii
Again
Wish he’d stop tap dancing with the ball though
It was clear that Q was going to score, Why wasn’t the ref in goal to award it instead of being 3-4 metres in the field of play and behind the ball carrier?
No patience. That was all panic from the reds
Lucky there’s 5 back reserves as well
Reds left points out there in the first 20, now they seem to have switched off. I wonder how much of that slack off is due to Flooks organisation
Caught up to live
Poor old Flook. No luck for him
Not good
Early engagement is a free kick ref, not a talking to