The Brumbies head to Palmerston North on Friday looking to continue their hot form from last week when they towelled up the Chiefs and make it two wins in a row against the hosts.
Most things seemed to click for the Brumbies as they ran riot but that excitement will have been quickly reined in as they refocused their efforts against a Hurricanes side that will be hurting after putting in a disappointing show against the Crusaders last week.
But the key for the Brumbies will be to maintain those aspects of the game that worked so well for them last week and fix up those areas against a side that can punish if given the chance. The Brumbies know this only too well after their last match against the Hurricanes in New Zealand, where they were in the game at half time before finding themselves on the end of a hiding.
The Brumbies have mixed up their starting side this week with a couple of handy inclusions amongst them, with all the changes in the forwards. Scott Sio gets his first start of the season at loosehead prop with James Slipper going back to the bench.
In the second row, Sam Carter is out of the 23 altogether with Blake Enever stepping up from the bench to partner Rory Arnold with Darcy Swain taking Enever’s place on the bench.
It’s the backrow that have most of the changes with David Pocock called straight back into the starting side after only clocking up six minutes this season after being concussed against the Rebels in round one. Also making the starting side is Pete Samu who takes Rob Valetini’s spot and like Carter, is also out of the 23. Tom Cusack, who filled in superbly for Pocock, reverts to the bench.
The Hurricanes effort last week combined with a get out of jail effort against the Waratahs a week earlier has seen them call in the big guns with Beauden Barrett recalled to the starting side after a mix of All Blacks rest and his honeymoon saw him miss the opening two games.
John Plumtree has made seven changes in total and also coming back are Vaea Fifita and Ardie Savea into the backrow. In the backs, TJ Perenara is back at scrumhalf to partner Barrett while Ngani Laumape is back at inside centre. There will only be one Barrett this week with Jordie given the week off with Chase Tiatia taking his place.
Match ups
Backrow
The Brumbies have mixed up their selections with Pocock coming back in and Pete Samu getting his first start. Lachy McCaffrey has been very solid to start this season but will need to be on his game to keep Ardie Savea quiet
Halves
A pretty obvious matchup with Joe Powell and Christian Lealiifano going to have their hands full against TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett. Perenara will no doubt be back to his usual best with plenty of chat and Powell will be wary after being burgled by Perenara for an outrageous try the last time they met.
Prediction
The Brumbies will be hoping that last weeks game wasn’t a one off but they will need to be on their game against a Hurricanes side looking to put in a convincing performance and with B Barrett back, that is possible but hopefully this isn’t the week that happens. Brumbies by 4..
TEAMS
[one_third last=”no”]
BRUMBIES
1 Scott Sio
2 Folau Fainga’a
3 Allan Alaalatoa
4 Rory Arnold
5 Blake Enever
6 Pete Samu
7 David Pocock
8 Lachlan McCaffrey
9 Joe Powell
10 Christian Lealiifano
11 Chance Peni
12 Irae Simone
13 Tevita Kuridrani
14 Andy Muirhead
15 Tom Banks
Replacements
16 Josh Mann-Rea
17 James Slipper
18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin
19 Darcy Swain
20 Tom Cusack
21 Matt Lucas
22 Wharenui Hawera
23 Tom Wright[/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
Hurricanes
1 Chris Eves
2 Dane Coles
3 Ben May
4 James Blackwell
5 Liam Mitchell
6 Vaea Fifita
7 Du’Plessis Kirifi
8 Ardie Savea
9 TJ Perenara
10 Beauden Barrett
11 Ben Lam
12 Ngani Laumape
13 Matt Proctor
14 Vince Aso
15 Chase Tiatia
Replacements
16 Ricky Riccitelli
17 Xavier Numia
18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen
19 Isaia Walker-Leawere
20 Reed Prinsep
21 Richard Judd
22 Jackson Garden-Bachop
23 Wes Goosen[/one_third]
[one_third last=”yes”]
MATCH DEETS
Kick off: 5:35pm AEDT,
Downtown Palmy North
Friday 1 March
Referee: Nick Briant
AR1: Frederico Anselmi
AR2: Nick Hogan
TMO: Aaron Paterson[/one_third]
