The Brumbies and the Force face off in Canberra on Friday night in Round 9 of Super Rugby AU. The Brumbies are full of confidence after putting away with Waratahs last week with a dominant second half while the Force will be looking to hit back after a disappointing outing against Queensland.
The home side will be looking to add to their impressive record of winning 14 out of the last 15 games at home and based on last week’s form, the Force will need to be at their very best for 80 minutes if they are to cause an upset and end their losing streak of 8 against the Brumbies .
With only 2 rounds to go in the season, the Brumbies only need to win this game to secure their place in the final and this seasons format sees the first-place team automatically into the final with hosting rights on September 19.
The Brumbies have made just the 1 change to their starting side as coach Dan McKellar rewards his squad who put in a top showing against the Waratahs with Joe Powell back in at scrum half for Ryan Lonergan, who is apparently behind the kicker but still misses out on the matchday 23.
The changes on the bench see the Brumbies revert to a 5/3 split as Folau Fainga’a comes in for Lachlan Lonergan at hooker and hopefully highly rated flyhalf Reesjan Pasitoa can add to his Super Rugby minutes back against the Highlanders and Sunwolves earlier in the year.
The Force won’t want to remember their last game against the Brumbies where they were down 12-0 before they had time to get into the game and eventually went down 24-0.
Coach Tim Sampson has made a raft of changes to their side with six changes in total to the side that went down to Queensland with the majority of those in the backline.
Internationals Henry Taefu and Marcel Brache are recalled to the starting backline at inside centre and right wing respectively and will be joined by Jono Lance at fly half and Jack McGregor at fullback, replacing Jack Strahan who moves back to the bench.
The forward pack is largely unscathed with just 1 change with the abrasive Henry Stowers back at number 8 after missing last weeks game with Brynard Stander moving back to the bench.
Stowers’ defensive work will be instrumental if the Force are to be in with a chance with his 19 tackles per game leading the competition but he will need others to join him and step up their defensive efforts otherwise it could be a long night.
Prediction
The Brumbies were hot on a cold night last week and will continue that form against a Force side still searching for their first win in Super Rugby AU.
TEAMS
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Brumbies
1 James Slipper
2 Connal McInerney
3 Allan Alaalatoa
4 Murray Douglas
5 Cadeyrn Neville
6 Lachlan McCaffrey
7 Will Miller
8 Pete Samu
9 Joe Powell
10 Bayley Kuenzle
11 Tom Wright
12 Irae Simone
13 Solomone Kata
14 Andy Muirhead
15 Tom Banks
Replacements
16 Folau Fainga’a
17 Scott Sio
18 Tom Ross
19 Darcy Swain
20 Rob Valetini
21 Nic White
22 Reesjan Pasitoa
23 Len Ikitau
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Force
1 Pek Cowan
2 Andrew Ready
3 Kieran Longbottom
4 Jeremy Thrush
5 Ollie Atkins
6 Fergus-Lee Warner
7 Kane Koteka
8 Henry Stowers
9 Ian Prior
10 Jono Lance
11 Brad Lacey
12 Henry Taefu
13 Kyle Godwin
14 Marcel Brache
15 Jack McGregor
Replacements
16 Feleti Kaitu’u
17 Chris Heiberg
18 Tom Sheminant
19 Tevin Ferris
20 Brynard Stander
21 Nick Frisby
22 Richard Kahui
23 Jake Strachan
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MATCH DEETS
Kick off: GIO Stadium, Friday 28 August 7:05pm AEST (5:05pm AWST)
Referee: Amy Perrett
AR1: Angus Gardner
AR2: Reuben Keane
TMO: Graham Cooper
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