O'Connor to five-eighth for Rebels - Sydney Morning Herald

AAP

Wallaby star James O'Connor will shoulder a double dose of responsibility for the Melbourne Rebels in Friday night's Super Rugby clash with Queensland.

With regular skipper Gareth Delve missing a second straight match due to a shoulder problem, the 22-year-old O'Connor will again captain the side.

And this time he will be doing it from the thick of the action at five-eighth, having been shifted from fullback to replace incumbent Australian No.10 Kurtley Beale, who broke his left hand in last week's loss to the Waratahs.

O'Connor is set to square off against Quade Cooper, another player with serious designs on the starting five-eighth's position for the Wallabies in the upcoming Tests against the British and Irish Lions.

Rebels coach Damien Hill has also handed a Super Rugby debut to Angus Roberts, with the former Sydney University player to start at fullback against the Reds at AAMI Park.

Roberts, 22, grew up in the NSW country town of Gunnedah before honing his skills at schoolboy level with noted Sydney rugby nursery St Ignatius.

"It's obviously bad for Kurtley," said Roberts, in the first year of a two-season contract with the Rebels.

"It's pretty hard to replace someone of that quality, but hopefully I can do my job at the back."

Roberts started out in rugby as a halfback and spent time at five-eighth before playing all of last season in the Sydney competition at fullback, scoring a try in the Shute Shield final.

"I've been like a sponge and soaked a lot of things up here," he said.

"The Reds have got some world-class players in their backline with Digby (Ioane), Ben Tapuai and Quade - so it's a good opportunity to come up against some of the best players in the world and see how I fare."

South Australian-born Alex Rokobaro returns to the starting team on the wing with with Rory Sidey dropping to the bench.

Melbourne Rebels: Angus Roberts, Richard Kingi, Mitch Inman, Lachlan Mitchell, Alex Rokobaro, James O'Connor (capt), Nick Phipps, Scott Higginbotham, Scott Fuglistaller, Luke Jones, Cadeyrn Neville, Hugh Pyle, Laurie Weeks, Ged Robinson, Nic Henderson. Res: Shota Horie, Paul Alo-Emile, Jordy Reid, Jarrod Saffy, Nic Stirzaker, Rory Sidey, Tom English.