The Brumbies welcome the Crusaders to Canberra on Sunday afternoon and will be looking to break a seven year hoodoo against the Cantabrians.
The home side are in the middle of a crucial stretch of games and will be looking to build on last weeks win over the Waratahs if they are to knock off the Crusaders and put an end to their six match winning streak.
The Crusaders are notoriously slow starters but have reversed that trend in 2016 with six wins in a row following a first round defeat to the Chiefs, which as the Brumbies found out a few weeks ago, are a team in form.
The visitors hold no fears about travelling and in Richie McCaw and Dan Carter’s last Super Rugby game at the same venue in 2015 they ran out 37-24 winners.
The biggest task the Brumbies have in stopping the Crusaders is nullifying the impact of Nemani Nadolo. The big unit leads the comp in offloads and will attract many defenders so they will need to get to him early and in numbers if they are to keep him quiet. I still have visions of his chip and chase down the wing last year that lead to a try.
The best thing the Brumbies can do to avoid all this is to not kick it back to one of the best counter attacking sides but if they have to, then kick it 5 rows back to avoid being torn to shreds by one of the best in the business. Keeping the ball in hand is probably where they’ll play this one and they have a pretty decent backline themselves and will be looking to use it.
Stephen Larkham has named an unchanged starting lineup from the Waratahs match and have received an extra boost during the week with Jarrad Butler signing on for another year. The only change on the bench sees Michael Dowsett take over from Joe Powell.
KEY MATCHUPS
Joe Tomane v Nemani Nadolo
Tomane was impressive last week bagging a hat trick against the Waratahs and has been one of the most impressive in the Brumbies backline this season.
Tomane is rumoured to have signed with the Brumbies foreign exchange club Montpellier and will be facing off against next seasons team mate and despite wearing 11, he pops up on the right wing and will need to have another solid game to get on top of Nadolo.
Scott Fardy v Jordan Taufua
Fardy has always been a menace at the ruck and doesn’t mind the physical stuff racking up a fair few stitches for his troubles. He has stepped up in conjunction with Jarrad Butler to fill the shoes of David Pocock and the battle with Taufua will be one to watch.
Allan Alaalatoa v Michael Alaalatoa
Even though both players will be starting on the bench, it will be a special moment when these brothers get to face off in the scrum to see who gets bragging rights at the next family dinner.
Prediction
The Brumbies will need to be accurate on with their game plan to end the hoodoo against a red hot Crusaders. History has shown there are plenty of points in these fixtures and hopefully this time they are scored by the Brumbies. Brumbies by 2..
Teams
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BRUMBIES
1. Scott Sio
2. Stephen Moore (c)
3. Ben Alexander
4. Rory Arnold
5. Sam Carter
6. Scott Fardy
7. Jarrad Butler
8. Jordan Smiler
9. Tomás Cubelli
10. Christian Lealiifano (c)
11. Joe Tomane
12. Matt Toomua
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Robbie Coleman
15. Aidan Toua
RESERVES:
16. Josh Mann-Rea
17. Allan Alaalatoa
18. Leslie Leulua’iali’i-Makin
19. Tom Staniforth
20. Michael Wells
21. Michael Dowsett
22. James Dargaville
23. Nigel Ah Wong
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CRUSADERS
1. Joe Moody
2. Codie Taylor
3. Owen Franks
4. Luke Romano
5. Scott Barrett
6. Jordan Taufua
7. Matt Todd
8. Kieran Read (c)
9. Andy Ellis
10. Richie Mo’unga
11. Nemani Nadolo
12. David Havili
13. Kieron Fonotia
14. Jone Macilai
15. Israel Dagg
RESERVES:
16. Ged Robinson
17. Wyatt Crockett
18. Mike Alaalatoa
19. Sam Whitelock
20. Tim Boys
21. Mitchell Drummond
22. Sean Wainui
23. Marty McKenzie
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