The Rebels have made two changes for their clash with the Reds in Melbourne on Friday.

In an injury-enforced swap, Paul Alo-Emile will start at tighthead prop in place of Laurie Weeks who sustained a fractured leg in their 36-12 loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington. Weeks will not require surgery, but is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Rookie Tim Metcher comes onto the bench as cover.

And in the second row, Lopeti Timani takes the place of Cadeyrn Neville, who drops to the reserves. 

There are also two other changes to the bench, where backs Luke Burgess and Jordy Reid replace Ben Meehan and Jonah Placid.

Rebels – 15 Mike Harris, 14 Tom English, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Sefanaia Naivalu, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Nic Stirzaker, 8 Scott Higginbotham (c), 7 Scott Fuglistaller, 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Toby Smith.
Subs: 16 Tom Sexton, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Tim Metcher, 19 Cadeyrn Neville, 20 Colby Fainga'a, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Jordy Reid, 23 Bryce Hegarty.

Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images