Yeah but to finish 4th they need to get the 5 pointer and have the blues get nothing at home to the highlanders who are now on holiday. They are playing for 5th or 6th only, it would take a miracle to finish fourth, and without Cliff and TPN & Fat Cat looking dodgy, discretion may be better part of valour. Also do you really want him coming out and putting kerosene on the fire by saying we're going for the bonus point? Why give the brumbies motivation?
That said I'm sure if they start like they did last weekend they will of course push for the 4th try. Still wont get 4th place though.
The Blues result will be known 24 hours beforehand, the Reds result two hours before and the Crusaders result minutes before, which may well dictate tactics for the Brumbies game. The Tahs would want to play the Reds, Crusaders or Blues rather than travel to SA. So whether they want to win with a bonus or win without a bonus point will be known before they run on. Either way, they must win the game.
The key player that I fear for the Brumbies is McCabe. If he plays 12 then Carter will cover him and then I would start Pakalani and Turner at 13 & 14 and use Paka at 13 defensively. On attack, Turner to 13 and Paka to 14. Holmes and Cross would be bench cover if it all went wrong. If McCabe goes to 13 then I would bring Holmes in to 12 and put Carter at 13 with Pakalani and Turner on the wings. Cross and Anesi would go to the bench. That formation still has enough flexibility to allow a 5:2 bench.
In the forwards, assuming Fat Cat, TPN and Mowen are fit (big assumption I know) then it would be Fat Cat, TPN and Fuse with Tilse and Ulugia on the bench. In the second row, I would start Vickerman and Timani with Douglas on the bench. Vickerman plays to exhaustion and then Douglas comes on. The backrow would be Mumm, Waugh and Mowen with Alcock and Dennis on the bench. If any of the big three fail their fitness tests, then we have to bring the reserves into the run-on and promote another prop, Fitzpatrick (he must have recovered by now) or Perrett as appropriate. Not the worst pack in the comp, that's for sure and one that could grind out a win against the Brumbies. If we need a bonus point to avoid a SA team then its all on Kurtley.