Super Rugby rookie: Jesse Mogg

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White shows his hand

Brumbies coach Jake White has included six debutants for Friday’s opening Super Rugby match with the Western Force in Canberra.

Lock Leon Power, a recruit from New Zealand provincial side Bay of Plenty, will make first Super Rugby appearance in the starting XV along with winger Jesse Mogg.

Fellow rookies Ruaidhri Murphy, Scott Fardy, Zack Holmes and Joe Tomane are on the bench.

Wallabies front rowers Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander have recovered from injury in time for Friday’s match but the Brumbies remain without Australia centre Pat McCabe, who is close to making his return from a shoulder surgery.

The exciting Robbie Coleman, a product of Canberra’s St Edmund’s College, starts at full-back after playing in the centres last season.

Fijian-born speedster Henry Speight is on the wing while Nic White will play half-back and Matt Toomua, a 2009 Wallabies Spring tourist, is the fly-half while Christian Lealiifano partners the hard-running Andrew Smith in the centres.

It is a fresh look for a Brumbies outfit, who lost 13 of their starting players at the end of last season.

“We’ve got a very young squad,” White said.

“That’s the nice thing, no-one knows what to expect from us and one of the exciting things is we don’t know how good we can become.

“That’s what we’ve been trying to emphasise this week.”

Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Jesse Mogg, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Ita Vaea, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Leon Power, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: Anthony Hegerty, Ruaidhri Murphy, Scott Fardy, Michael Hooper, Ian Prior, Zack Holmes, Joe Tomane.

Date: Friday, February 24
Venue: Canberra Stadium

Kick-off:19:40
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)