Faingaa out of Reds v Waratahs clash to rest injured hand
QUEENSLAND Reds and Wallabies centre Anthony Faingaa put his injured hand up and ruled himself out of today's Super Rugby showdown against the NSW Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium.
Faingaa, who missed the opening game of the campaign against the Brumbies last week after damaging ligaments in his left hand in the trial win over the Auckland Blues earlier this month, was expected to return this week to replace Aidan Toua in the midfield.
Youngster Chris Feauai-Sautia will now wear the 13 jersey instead of Toua as the Reds continuing to manage the workload of the young flyer who after he played in three straight matches following an off-season rehabilitating his hamstring.
It will be the 19-year-old Feauai-Sautia's second Super Rugby run-on start after he played on the wing against the Melbourne Rebels late last season.
"Aidan spent nine months rehabbing his injury and after two trial games and last week's clash against the Brumbies we felt his body would benefit in the long-term from a short break," Reds director of coaching Ewen McKenzie said.
"Anthony is obviously disappointed to miss the game as we all entered the week confident he was once again fit for selection. But, after training on his injured hand in the early stages of the week, he was honest with us about where he thought he was at and we all agreed it would be best for him to be held out for a further week.
"Like any injury, all it does is provide an opportunity to the next man in line and this week it's Chris who gets his chance in the starting team. Chris is a player rated highly by the coaching staff and his peers and already we've seen flashes of his potential, both last year and more recently from the bench against the Brumbies."
Lock Rob Simmons will play his 50th game for Queensland and will be joined in the second-row by Ed O'Donoghue, who has replaced Adam Wallace-Harrison.
