Rugby: Brumbies lock goes from bar to Super debut

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The Brumbies will throw a teenage part-time bar worker up against two Wallabies locks when they take on the Queensland Reds in Brisbane tonight.

Brumbies second-rower Tom Staniforth, 19, will face Australia's best Super rugby lock pair James Horwill and Rob Simmons at Suncorp Stadium.

Staniforth, who still lives at home with his mother and father, pours beers and collects glasses at Canberra pubs to support his minimum wage Brumbies contract. He's been thrust into the role after knee injuries to locks Sam Carter and Leon Power.

Brumbies skipper Ben Mowen described the 1.96m, 113kg Australian under-20 representative as a quiet, "straighty-180" kind of guy off the field - yet don't let that fool you.

"When he takes to the field there's a beast that comes out," Mowen said. "He's such a pest to train against."

With the Reds boasting one of the best defensive lineouts in the competition, their coach Richard Graham this week said they'd target the Brumbies' injury-hit lineout. Mowen shrugged at the tactics, saying Staniforth was a good aerial player.

"When you're [up against] jumping options like the Reds have, you need to have variation in your lineout, so he'll be a valuable component," Mowen said.

The desperate Reds have been attempting to disrupt the second-placed Brumbies through mind games all week.

Mowen labelled the overt tactics as unusual and suggested the 11th-placed Reds might be starting to feel the pressure. "I was surprised to hear a few of those things. But talk's irrelevant," he said.

The Brumbies pack will see the return of hooker Stephen Moore and prop Scott Sio.

Meanwhile, the Reds have recalled centre Anthony Fainga'a and young gun Chris Feauai-Sautia.

-AAP