Van Humphries will lead an inexperienced locks division for the Reds © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Van Humphries

Tournaments/Tours: Super 14

Teams: Australia | Queensland Reds

With their opening Super 14 game against the Bulls in Pretoria less than a week away, the Queensland Reds are preparing an inexperienced set of locks for their Super Rugby debuts in place of injured skipper and Wallaby James Horwill.

Both Rob Simmons and Adam Byrnes are uncapped members of the Reds squad, but they have been offered a guiding hand by 33-year-old Van Humphries, now in his third stint with the side after spells in Japan and Italy.

Humphries is a member of the Reds' six-man leadership team and will shoulder the burden of helping their inexperienced second-row options in the absence of Horwill.

"I probably haven't thought about it [leadership] too much, but I'm definitely looking for a big year this year for myself, so I guess [leadership] goes hand-in-hand," said Humphries. "I'll step into that role a little more this year. Probably more so this year than any other year with the squad being quite young and a lot of the older guys leaving at the end of last year."

Humphries believes that despite their youth the Reds squad can compensate for the loss of Horwill, and potentially produce a new raft of quality options at lock.

"Simmo's [Simmons] coming along really well. He'll just keep getting better and better as he's still quite young and has got so much improving. The exposure he'll probably get in the first three or four weeks of this competition is going to really help him along."

At 19, Simmons is getting his first taste of rugby at elite level while Byrnes has two seasons with Irish province Leinster under his belt but is yet to play Super Rugby. He returned to Australia with the Waratahs academy but moved north to Queensland to further his career this season.

"That's the reason I came home, to give Super 14 a crack," Byrnes said. "Europe was enjoyable but I wanted to play back home in Australia."

Reds coach Phil Mooney is confident that the Reds have enough options to cover for Horwill, and they will be sorely tested against a Bulls lineup likely to include Springbok lineout kings Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha.

"Robert (Simmons) has now been around the squad for a couple of years and his strength has improved really pleasingly and he is an exciting young prospect," Mooney said. "Adam Byrnes is a guy who has been on the periphery of the Waratahs so he has come up here for an opportunity and has been going well. There is some real competition there."

The Reds will go into their opening game without Wallaby flanker Hugh McMeniman after he was granted compassionate leave to return to Australia following new of a family illness.