This will be an absorbing game, though not necessarily a cracking game. There are so many things of interest to Aussie rugby fans: particularly the impact of the result on the Conference table and the respective performances of Wallabies candidates.
The result is important to both teams, but more so for the Tahs methinks. In the real world you don't usually make the finals of anything if you lose once after the siren and twice by one point, in nine games, especially if you play only 16 games in the pool stages. Teams who make the finals usually win those matches and if they get to play teams who are struggling at the minute like the Blues and the Lions and they don't have to play teams like the Crusaders and Stormers, it is better still.
No correspondence on that please: the Brumbies have deserved everything they have earned this season and have put a smile on the dial of this old rugby fan. The Tahs have not earned anything- I'm just explaining why I think the result is more important to the Tahs. Since they are still to visit the RSA, they have to win everything that is going, but in particular the 3 games left against the Brumbies and the Reds.
On current form, sinking all those putts is unlikely.
There has been episodic good play from the Tahs in recent games, including against the Crusaders, but there haven't been enough episodes. Like all teams the Tahs have had players absent but the effect of the sudden unavailability of 15. Foley and 13. Horne on the defensive game of the Tahs was conspicuous against the Crusaders.
If the devil promised coach Foley 33 points against the Crusaders before the game he would have signed off on it, but the Saders scored 37. The Tahs centres and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) didn't connect very well, and though the Crusaders had one such defensive misadventure themselves, the Tahs had too many of them.
The unhappy defensive performance of Tom Carter has been well documented in the forum, but young Kingston was also culpable. Once, inexplicably, he propped to defend against Dagg who was always going wide, and thereby suffered AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to stay in, leaving a gap where AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) should have been. Try.
Horme missed a lot of tackles this year but typically they were from rushing up and missing opponents who went inside for team mates to scrag, The Tahs were on their heels too much last Sunday. Horne would have made a difference.
The Brumbies will also endeavour to profit from the lack of connection of the 12, 13 and 15 of the Tahs, and I would give Kudriani a lot of time to exploit it. He is no Freuan, but is the closest to it that the Brumbies have.
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