It is now time for the Brumbies to show their hand if they want to be serious title contenders for the 2010 season. The team is now in the middle of a favorable run to the finals and need to start winning, and convincingly, before starting to put fear into other teams in and around the top 4.
To get the ball rolling, they take on the Free State Cheetahs on Saturday night who were outgunned against the Waratahs. Only a pre game downpour stopped the Waratahs points total matching their efforts against the Lions and with reasonable conditions expected for Rugby on Saturday night, the Brumbies should score plenty of tries, if not to get their season back on track, but to keep the critics at arm’s length for another week.
The team is coming off the bye, is lying in seventh on the ladder and should be fresh and ready to go after the week off training. Although there are a few injury concerns, the players named in those positions should slot in and do the job.
There are changes which have been necessitated by injury and see Josh Valentine out with a hamstring injury, Stirling Mortlock with a back injury and George Smith who has still not made much progress after suffering a nerve injury in his shoulder during the Blues game 3 weeks ago.
The Cheetahs are a strange lot. They seem to do well in the domestic Currie Cup competition and made last year’s final, however when it comes to Super 14 they struggle, especially when they leave Bloemfontein. In the new look comp the best they’ve done away from home was a 32-33 loss to the Chiefs back in 2006. And the last win on the road was way back in 1997 against the Highlanders. Based on current form I can’t see them improving on that record.
The Cheetahs are expecting a fierce battle up front and have made significant changes in the pack to combat a Brumbies pack which has been solid over the last few weeks. They will have to be on their game to stop the Brumbies pigs who have scored 11 out of the 18 Brumbies tries this season. They won’t be fielding their strongest team due to a variety of reasons.
A cruel knee injury to Bok flanker Heinrich Brussow has taken some of the steam out of their progress after good early wins against the Shorks and Hurricanes. More recently the absence of Juan Smith has been telling after the last 2 losses to Queensland and NSW respectively. Smith had made the trip to Canberra after his father suffered a heart attack but in a late development, the sad news came through of the passing of his father meaning further changes to the starting team.
Match Day Program can be downloaded right………..here. Print it off and take it to the game or the pub. Impress friends and co-workers. Probably not any chicks though.
