The Brumbies have faced many tests in 2012 but their match against the Hurricanes in Wellington must be the toughest of the season so far. With the cruel injury that struck down in form flyhalf Christian Lealiifano in the final play of the Waratahs match, the call went out for a replacement flyhalf. There was talk that local hero and current backs coach Stephen Larkham could fill the void, but I suspect that was one giant smokescreen from coach Jake White to take the pressure of the two remaining candidates for the position – Robbie Coleman and Zack Holmes.
That question has been answered this week and Zack Holmes will take the reigns ahead of Robbie Coleman. To most, this could be another ‘who’s that?’ player but Holmes has plied his trade for Norths in the Shute Shield and has also been a member of the Australian 7’s team.
The Brumbies are coming off the bye and have had extra time to work on getting Holmes involved although he’s been learning the plays during pre-season training and even ran at 10 in some of the pre-season trial matches so isn’t totally foreign to the position. The other change in the halves sees Ian Prior get the nod over Nic White which seems to be part of Jake White’s rotation policy, possibly with an eye on next weeks game. The rest of the team is unchanged from the Waratahs match with White pretty much settled on his best XV.
The Hurricanes sprung somewhat of a surprise last week when they knocked off the Highlanders undercover in Dunedin so they will be full of confidence and find themselves on the edge of a finals position.
Both sides have found themselves in similar situations in 2012 after cleanouts of the playing roster leading to most expecting lean seasons. But they have proven that with a bit of self belief and confidence, they can match it and will be in with a shout come finals time.
Teams
Brumbies: 15. Jesse Mogg, 14. Henry Speight, 13. Andrew Smith, 12. Pat McCabe, 11. Joe Tomane, 10. Zack Holmes, 9. Ian Prior, 8. Fotu Auelua, 7. Michael Hooper, 6. Ben Mowen (c), 5. Sam Carter, 4. Scott Fardy, 3. Dan Palmer, 2. Stephen Moore, 1. Ben Alexander. Res: 16. Anthony Hegarty, 17. Ruaidhri Murphy, 18. Peter Kimlin, 19. Ita Vaea, 20. Nic White, 21. Robbie Coleman, 22. Tevita Kuridrani.
Hurricanes: 15. Andre Taylor, 14. Cory Jane, 13. Conrad Smith, 12. Tim Bateman, 11. Julian Savea, 10. Tusi Pisi, 9. TJ Perenara, 8. Victor Vito, 7. Karl Lowe, 6. Brad Shields, 5. Jason Eaton 4. Jeremy Thrush, 3. Ben May, 2. Dane Coles, 1. Reggie Goodes. Res: 16. Motu Matu’u, 17. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18. James Broadhurst, 19. Jack Lam, 20. Chris Eaton, 21. Beauden Barrett, 22. Jayden Hayward.
Details
The game will kick off at 5:35pm on Friday at the Cake Tun in Wellington and can be seen on Fox Sports 3. The referee will be the better of the 2 Lawrence’s, with Mark taking the Whistle (it’s hard or nearly impossible to be worse than Bryce to be honest)
Referee: Mark Lawrence (SA)
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (NZ), Richard Kelly (NZ)
TMO: Vinny Munro (NZ)
Game Breaker
Both teams forwards look evenly matched so it should come down to the backs to determine the winner. Both teams have plenty of pace in their back lines and the match up of Henry Speight against Julian Savea should be one to watch, providing the ball can reach the flanks.
The Fearless Prediction
This clash against the Hurricanes is crucial in the make up of the Australian Conference ladder, with the Brumbies lead at risk of being cut or even reigned in with a mouth watering clash with the Reds to follow this match. The Brumbies haven’t found it easy against the Hurricanes in recent years and you have to look in the National Archives to find the last time they won in Wellington – way back in 2003. But this group of players don’t care about history and are prepared to have a go from anywhere on the field in any stadium.
Will the Brumbies find their man at 10 in Holmes or will this be the slip up that observers have been waiting for? I think it could be the former of those and will be a tight game and the Brumbies get home by 3, especially since the Hurricanes have benched their up and coming flyhalf Beauden Barrett.
