Matt Gibbon & Lachie Anderson sign with Reds, in line for Wales debut

Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 1:00 AM
Lachlan Grey
by Lachlan Grey
Lachie Anderson crosses for a double in the Melbourne Rebels quarter final loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington.

Wallaby prop Matt Gibbon and 7s Olympian Lachie Anderson are the latest Rebels to sign with Les Kiss’ Queensland.

The duo were formally unveiled as Reds on Tuesday morning after being spotted training at Ballymore on Monday afternoon.

Tickets for the 2024 Wallabies home Test season available here.

Both are in consideration to debut against Wales in Friday’s international tour match.

Gibbon, 29, represented Melbourne 75 times in Super Rugby and boasts six Test caps for Australia since debuting against Argentina in 2022. His brother Alex also played for Queensland in 2016.

Meanwhile, Anderson, 26, has played for Australia A and represented his country at the Tokyo Olympics alongside a 35-game Super Rugby career to date.

Gibbon bolsters a front-row unit littered with international Test caps (Alex Hodgman, Matt Faessler, Jeff Toomaga-Allen) with Anderson strengthening a back-three unit already featuring the likes of Jock Campbell, Mac Grealy, Tim Ryan, Suliasi Vunivalu and Floyd Aubrey.

Their signatures through 2025 take Queensland’s off-season tally of Melbourne acquisitions to four following Josh Canham and Filipo Daugunu, who inked two-year and one-year deals respectively.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, Gibbon described signing with Queensland as a "full circle moment". "As a kid who played for Nudgee College and Queensland Schoolboys, playing for the Reds has always been an end goal,” Gibbon said via media release.

“I see a very professional outfit at the Reds. I’m ecstatic because (Reds head coach) Les Kiss made me feel wanted from our first conversations after I’d been kicking stones."

In a statement, Anderson told Reds media he was excited to stay in Australian rugby after a difficult year.

“What really connected with me is the expansive, running style that the Reds are building and being a part of that," Anderson said.

“It can never be underestimated what having clarity on your future can do for your on-field performances.

“There have been some stressful months this year for everyone involved at the Rebels so to have this certainly means I can concentrate on being a better footy player.”

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