The Brumbies are the only Super Rugby team I’ve known who have had three coaches in one season, to wit Andy Friend, Tony Rea and now Jake White.
It must be getting a bit crowded with Jake now in the business of hiring and firing while ‘Stinger’ is still ostensibly doing the business. Oh well, ’tis of their own making, but let’s hope it doesn’t unsettle the players too much. No doubt their famed culture will get them through.
In a sensible move the Brumbies relocated to Cape Town to train this week before flying up to the bustling metropolis of Bloemfontein to meet the Cheetahs, where the robot turning red is a highlight….
There are major changes to their lineup from the last outing against the Force two weeks ago. The coach (whoever that might currently be) has decided to bite the bullet and switch Matt Giteau to inside centre in this week’s Friday night (early Saturday our time) match-up against the Cheetahs. That’s what his jersey number will say anyway. He’s swapped with Christian Lealiifano. Not that Gits has been playing poorly at 10, because he hasn’t.
It’s been decided that stability is now the key in the halves so the rotation experiment has been terminated. Anyway, No. 12 has historically been Gits’s best position.
In some rare good news for the Brumbies Stephen Moore and Huia Edmonds both return to the playing squad, with Squeaky starting. Additionally, Mitch Chapman is now fit and returns to blindside flanker and Colby Faingaa is at No. 8 (Vaea has a knee injury).
Patrick Phibbs is promoted to the starting side with Josh Valentine dropping to the bench. The coach (whoever that might currently be) wants the ball delivered out to the backs quicker.
Ben Hand is replaced by Peter Kimlin at lock and Robbie Coleman and Jono Owen (in Ma’afu’s place) are promoted to the reserves. Pat McCabe returns to fullback and AAC to the wing.
For the Cheetahs, Springbok openside Heinrich Brüssow and hooker Adriaan Strauss have been included in their starting lineup. Strauss also reclaims the captaincy from lock Wilhelm Steenkamp.
“I would say it’s our strongest forward pack of the season with Heinrich available again and Frans Viljoen on the bench. Heinrich will play the first 40 minutes and Frans the second 40,” said Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské. Strauss and Brüssow replace Ryno Barnes and Kabamba Floors respectively.
Brüssow is back in action for the first time since injuring his ribs during the Reds match at Suncorp. His match-up with boom youngster Michael Hooper will be a feature. Viljoen was sidelined for almost the same period after injuring a hamstring in the tour victory over the Waratahs.
The return of Brüssow and Viljoen will ensure that it’s going to be a tough battle at the breakdown. Unfortunately, Juan Smith is still out indefinitely, while sevens Springbok Rayno Benjamin has not recovered in time from his hamstring injury and is again replaced by Riaan Smit. In another change to the lineup, Corné Uys replaces the injured Barry Geel in the midfield.
The excellent form of the halves Sarel Pretorius and Sias Ebersohn should give Drotské some hope for their remaining games.
The Brumbies have won two from eight this year and the Cheetahs one from nine, so there’s not too much separating these two sides. The Cheetahs have chiefly provided nuisance value, coming close to upsetting a number of higher ranked sides, for instance the Highlanders (21–24), Bulls (23–25) and Stormers (15–21) — and we can’t forget the 23-3 defeat of the Waratahs.
Both teams can attack but defence is not a strong point, so we may see another high scoring try-fest in Bloem.
Brumbies: 15 Pat McCabe, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Matt Giteau (c), 10 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Francis Fainifo, 9 Pat Phibbs, 8 Colby Faingaa, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Peter Kimlin, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander. Reserves: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Jono Owen, 18 Ben Hand, 19 Julian Salvi, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Tyrone Smith, 22 Robbie Coleman.
Cheetahs: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Philip Burger, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Corné Uys, 11 Riaan Smit, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen. Reserves: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Lourens Adriaanse, 18 Martin Muller, 19 Frans Viljoen, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Hennie Daniller.
Friday, April 29 (Saturday morning AEST 3.00am)
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
