The Brumbies roll into Johannesburg to take on the Lions this week. It’s not often you can say a team is full of confidence after a loss however the way they played against the Bulls, especially in the second half of last weeks game, it would be difficult not to be.
The Lions are struggling at the bottom of the log as they say in South Africa (or ladder as Aussies call it) with a solitary win that was way back in round 1 against the Cheetahs. But they have been close in some of their losses and could prove a real handful at the ‘Coke tin’ (Thanks Paarl for that name).
The Lions are reigning Currie Cup champions so they certainly have the ability to win and with Carlos Spencer amongst the coaching staff, anything is possible, and Brumbies fans will remember they did secure their first ever win in Canberra just last year.
John Mitchell has injury concerns to deal with in the forwards and has scraped together a lock combination that includes one-time Waratah Hendrik Roodt, who unfortunately ended up being a dud signing and headed back to the Republic.
The Brumbies have changed their squad from last week, through both injury and the rotation system coach Jake White has in place. Captain Ben Mowen has been ruled with a neck injury that flared up during the loss to the Bulls with Stephen Moore taking over as captain.
The changes to the starting XV are in the forwards with prop Ben Alexander switching to tighthead to allow Ruaidhri Murphy to take the role of loosehead. Dan Palmer has been hampered with niggling injuries and has the week off. With Mowen ruled out, Peter Kimlin comes in at blindside flanker and the last change sees Leon Power take his place in the second row. The one change to bench sees prop Scott Sio get the chance to get his second run with the Brumbies this year.
The backline remains unchanged and will give them a lot of confidence after putting on two great tries last week that had the hallmarks of backline coach Stephen Larkham in his playing days for the Brumbies..
Teams
Brumbies: 15. Jesse Mogg, 14. Henry Speight, 13. Andrew Smith, 12. Pat McCabe, 11. Joe Tomane, 10. Christian Lealiifano, 9. Nic White, 8. Fotu Auelua, 7. Michael Hooper, 6. Peter Kimlin, 5. Leon Power, 4. Scott Fardy, 3. Ben Alexander, 2. Stephen Moore (c), 1. Ruaidhri Murphy.
Res: 16. Anthony Hegarty, 17. Scott Sio, 18. Sam Carter, 19. Ita Vaea, 20. Ian Prior, 21. Robbie Coleman, 22. Tevita Kuridrani.
Lions: 15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Deon van Rensburg, 13. Jaco Taute, 12. Alwyn Hollenbach, 11. Lionel Mapoe, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Tian Meyer, 8. Joshua Strauss (c), 7. Derick Minnie, 6. Cobus Grobbelaar, 5. Franco van der Merwe, 4. Hendrik Roodt, 3. Patric Cilliers, 2. Callie Visagie, 1. Caylib Oosthuizen.
Res: 16. Martin Bezuidenhout, 17. Jacobie Adriaanse, 18. Grant Hattingh, 19. Doppies le Roux, 20. Ross Cronje, 21. Butch James, 22. Michael Killian.
Details
The match will again kick off at 3:10am on Saturday morning (AEST).
Brumbies fans, and rugby fans in general, will breathe a sigh of relief to know that Marius Jonker is not in control of this match after a less than average display last week. Keith Brown will have the whistle for this one.
Referee: Keith Brown (NZ)
Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson (NZ), Tiaan Jonker (SA)
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee (SA)
Game Breaker
I’d like to say this match will be the battle of the beards when Josh Strauss comes up against Scott Fardy. However, I can see it being dictated by the piggies with the Brumbies forwards attempting to dominate their opponents and will need to be wary of the Lions mauling ability (with the ball, not their teeth/claws) before unleashing their backline. If that doesn’t get results, they could resort to Fotu Auelua running one off the ruck.
The Fearless Prediction
The Lions are coming off the bye, but the Brumbies showed much promise in their last match. Interestingly, the Brumbies have been on the highveld for the entire duration of their two week tour which could work in their favour. The Brumbies have shown this season that they will play until the final whistle and get the win in what could be a high scoring match to entertain the Jozi locals, although I doubt it will match the dizzy heights of the 72-65 thriller the Lions had with the Chiefs in 2010.
Brumbies by 10 – Hakuna Matata.
