The Brumbies welcome the Chiefs from the ‘Tron on Saturday night in an early test of their squad depth after naming three new names in the starting side.
Gone from last week are David Pocock, who is sitting out after he failed his head injury assessment and only played six minutes and both starting wingers in Toni Pulu and Henry Speight who miss what would be a special game for both as they have ties to the Hamilton based club.
Fortunately for the Brumbies, they do have reasonable depth in both the back row and wing stocks and can call on the ever-reliable Tom Cusack to replace Pocock. Cusack was unlucky to miss out on making the matchday 23 last week but his form in the trials will make the transition as seamless as possible.
On the wings, Andy Muirhead steps up from his bench role to a starting role and Chance Peni will join him on the wing who will be looking to repay the faith of the coaching staff after his tackling technique brought him undone last year and spent a number of weeks on the sidelines.
Lausii Taliauli was touted as a possible replacement but a knee injury suffered in the trial against the Waratahs has kept him out but is due back in the coming weeks but coming onto the bench is former NRL Tom Wright who had very solid outings in both trials and could spark the Brumbies backline late in the game.
The home side will be looking to tighten up a few areas including their kick chase against the Chiefs. They will also need to be more clinical against the Chiefs will not give away many scoring chances.
The visitors will looking to open their account after blowing a lead and ultimately came up short against 14 players against the Highlanders. They will welcome back Damian McKenzie at flyhalf to a somewhat inexperienced but tatelnted backline with only himself, Anton Lienert-Brown and Shaun Stevenson with more than 20 caps to their name.
But they will be lead by All Black Brodie Retallick and he’ll be looking for a big game in his 100th match for the Chiefs and it will probably be the forwards where the Chiefs will try to take on the Brumbies.
Match ups
Arnold v. Retallick
This will be a good test for Rory Arnold up against an All Black mainstay and give him a chance to get back into the starting side for the Wallabies. Retallick doesn’t mind rolling up the sleeves and getting stuck in so this will be a good battle.
Banks v. Stevenson
2019 is a big year for Banks to get into the Wallabies squad on a regular basis after being unused on the Spring tour in 2018. He didn’t get much chance with ball in hand last week but will be hoping to take on some inexperienced Chiefs backs. He will have to be on his toes to keep Stevenson quiet, who can find a gap and will be off before you even notice if given the chance.
Prediction
Both teams are smarting from losses last week and will be desperate to get off the mark in 2019. The Brumbies will be keen to get going even without their big name but it will be close. Brumbies by 1..
TEAMS
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BRUMBIES
1 James Slipper
2 Folau Fainga’a
3 Allan Alaalatoa
4 Rory Arnold
5 Sam Carter
6 Rob Valetini
7 Tom Cusack
8 Lachlan McCaffrey
9 Joe Powell
10 Christian Lealiifano
11 Andy Muirhead
12 Irae Simone
13 Tevita Kuridrani
14 Chance Peni
15 Tom Banks
Replacements
16 Josh Mann-Rea
17 Scott Sio
18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin
19 Blake Enever
20 Pete Samu
21 Matt Lucas
22 Wharenui Hawera
23 Tom Wright[/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
Chiefs
1 Aidan Ross
2 Nathan Harris
3 Nepo Laulala
4 Brodie Retallick
5 Michael Allardice
6 Mitchell Brown
7 Lachlan Boshier
8 Tyler Ardron
9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi
10 Damian McKenzie
11 Etene Nanai-Seturo
12 Anton Lienert-Brown
13 Tumua Manu
14 Ataata Moeakiola
15 Shaun Stevenson
Replacements
16 Samisoni Taukei’aho
17 Tevita Mafileo
18 Sosefo Kautai
19 Taleni Seu
20 Mitchell Karpik
21 Jonathan Taumateine
22 Orbyn Leger
23 Bailyn Sullivan[/one_third]
[one_third last=”yes”]
MATCH DEETS
Kick off: 7:45pm AEST
Saturday 23 February
Referee: Angus Gardner
AR1: Damon Murphy
AR2: Graham Cooper
TMO: Ian Smith
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