Thanks Scott for the Reds trial game report. Anyone (Brumby Jack?) able to report on the Brumbies V ACT trial? The match report on the Brumbies website is okay but it would be nice to get other perspectives, including info about the ACT players who might step up to super level.
These were my impressions following Friday's match.
Overall, the Brumbies looked very sharp. The starting scrum and rolling maul were particularly strong. No scrum collapses that I can recall until most of the front row had been replaced. Two very strong rolling mauls at the start of the game, one leading to Pocock's try, and then it was put away. The backline was well drilled and broke the defensive line regularly. Three or four meat pies scored directly from good, attacking backline play. Combination of To'omua at 10 and Lealiifano at 12 worked exceptionally well, and would have looked even better if Christian's first three passes hadn't gone to ground. The whole team's fitness looked spot on - game played in mid-30s temp and high humidity, but no-one faltered. Rained in the second half and handling then became difficult.
Players in the ACT team to stand out were Schwanapoel who might earn a spot on the bench this week, Van der Valt, Staniforth who had a massive game at the line out and in the open, and the No 8 and No 12 (didn't get their names).
A highlight of the second half was an enormous charge up the middle by Scott Sio. He has remarkable pace for such a big man.
Man of the match imo was Ben Mowen, but it's hard at a distance to sometimes distinguish between Ben and Scott Fardy. Others to shine included Jesse Mogg, Clyde Rathbone (2 tries - one at the end of a classic backline move and the other where he had to beat the covering defence to the line), Christian, Nic White, and the entire starting scrum. Andrew Smith continues to improve at 13 and showed some good footwork on occasions and is very adept at setting his wingers up.