Humphries fit for Reds
In a major shot in the arm for the wounded Reds, Queensland lock Van Humphries has declared himself a certain starter for their Super 14 clash with the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday.
Humphries had missed the last two games with an ankle injury but returns to the Reds pack in their time of need.
Smarting from their last round 32-12 thumping at the hands of the Brumbies in Canberra, the Reds had many wounds to lick after a remarkable injury rate in the nation's capital.
In the opening quarter of the match, the Reds incredibly lost starting locks Rob Simmons (fractured cheekbone) and Adam Byrnes (knee ligament) while Daniel Braid suffered a knee complaint.
Simmons and Byrnes join fellow lock and captain James Horwill on the sidelines for the Reds.
Braid still has a question mark over him before the team flies out on Wednesday - but Humphries declared on Tuesday that he would be "100 per cent" for the crunch clash over the ditch.
"It's coming along well. We've had a checklist to tick off over the last couple of days and I've passed everything so far," Humphries said.
"I'll be 100 per cent come Friday."
Humphries sustained the ankle injury in the final lineout of the Reds' 19-12 victory over the Bulls.
He looks set to be packing down alongside late season recruit and former Wallaby Radike Samo.
"He (Radike) has been training for the past two or three weeks," Humphries said.
"From what we have done so far, and the way we trained this morning, he was very good.
"He's done a lot and he's a good guy to actually come into the squad at the moment."
The Reds need to regroup before taking on a Hurricanes outfit that are poised to jump Queensland in the finals race.
Wellington are just one point behind the Reds in fifth.
But Humphries insisted that the team had moved on from their 12th straight loss to the Brumbies.
"It's sort of a chink to our pride, so the boys are really looking to make up for it," he said.
"(But) we've done our analysis and we've generally done well on the short turnaround all year - this should be no different."
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