By James Wong

Melbourne Rebels captain Nic Stirzaker will miss Saturday’s opening round Super Rugby match against the Western Force.

The scrum half was unable to recover in time from a shoulder injury suffered in preseason training. Ben Meehan will start at No.9 with Wallabies flanker Sean McMahon set to captain the side in Stirzaker’s absence.

Rebels head coach Tony McGahan said he wasn’t willing to risk further injury to Stirzaker’s shoulder in the opening round, adding that he has plenty faith in Meehan to fill the role.

“You’d always want your captain to be starting in round one and unfortunately Nic’s not available but certainly Ben Meehan’s done a good job. He’s been here for the last two years. He’s gathered game time both at Super Rugby level and also NRC where he had the full go at it last year so we’re looking forward to him playing. Ben’s excited and to be fair he’s done all the preseason so he’ll fit in seamlessly.

“It’s a long season we’ve got a big stretch of six games in front of us so it probably allows us to be a little bit cautious with regard to that. We’ve still got Mick Snowden on the bench as well. We’re well covered and we don’t need to do anything silly at this stage of the season”

The match will also see the Rebels debuts of recruits Adam Thompson and James Hanson. Both arrived from the Queensland Reds this off-season and will add some much needed experience to a Rebels forward pack bursting with young talent.

Fullback Mike Harris said Thompson’s impact both on and off the field has been immediate.

“He’s played a lot of games, a lot of experience; he’s a World Cup winning All Black so he’s been great for other guys in the squad.”

The Rebels face a difficult first six weeks of the season and will want to get off to a fast start against the Force.

Harris acknowledged the tough road ahead for the team but maintained their focus is squarely on Saturday’s game.

“We’ve got a bit of travel early on. We know that, we’ve known that for a long time so there’s been a lot of preparation in terms of the way we’re going to approach each of those games but you can get caught looking too far down the track.

“We know we want to start well, start fast and then I think you set yourself up for the rest of the season that way, so although that’s in the back of our minds our main focus is the Force”

Harris’ goal kicking could be the difference on Saturday night. Nine of the last ten meetings between the Rebels and Force have finished within a converted try or less.

Melbourne Rebels team to face Western Force

Toby Smith, James Hanson, Laurie Weeks, Luke Jones, Lopeti Timani, Jordy Reid, Sean McMahon, Adam Thomson, Ben Meehan, Jack Debreczeni, Reece Hodge, Mitch Inman, Tamati Ellison, Dom Shipperley, Mike Harris. Reserves: Pat Leafa, Cruze Ah Nau, Jamie Hagan, Steve Cummins, Colby Fainga’a, Mick Snowden, Johan Placid, Tom English.