The Brumbies will be looking to get their finals aspirations back on track when they take on the Rebels in Canberra on Saturday night.
The Brumbies endured a disastrous tour of South Africa with two losses and collected just one competition point as they dropped from second to seventh on the ladder after last weeks round of games.
This weeks task against the Rebels isn’t any easier as they come up against a side that got the better of them in the return fixture in round 7 in Melbourne.
In that game the Rebels converted six penalty goals and the number of kickable penalties in recent games is starting to cause come concern for the hosts. With Steve Walsh controlling this game, they will need to cut out the amount of chances they give the opposition to advance their score in multiples of three.
This game has two of the top three most penalised players in the comp going head to head – Scott Fardy for the Brumbies and Scott Higginbotham for the Rebels – and the breakdown will surely be an area that is heavily scrutinised.
There is some good news for the Brumbies in that they have not been defeated by the Rebels in Canberra and have won the three games at home convincingly by an average of 22 points and have scored over 30 points each time.
They have made four changes to their starting side in attempt to get back on track. In the forwards, Ben Alexander drops to the bench with Ruan Smith taking his place. At blindside, Fotu Auelua comes back that means Scott Fardy moves to lock and Leon Power moves to the bench.
In the backs, Clyde Rathbone makes his starting debut in 2014 in what will be his last season after announcing his retirement, again, and takes the place of Robbie Coleman who is battling a virus. At fullback Pat McCabe takes the place of Jesse Mogg.
The Rebels welcome back Tamati Ellison and Laurie Weeks, who will be making his 50th appearance for the Rebels. Also back in the side are Japanese duo, Male Sau and Shota Horie who are back from helping Japan qualify for the 2015 World Cup.
Key matchup:
Locks
This match features two of the new locks that have made the 32-man squad for the French series. Sam Carter for the Brumbies comes up against fellow rookie Luke Jones and they will go head to head in the last audition before the first Test against the French. Cadeyrn Neville could consider himself unlucky but this will be a chance to put his name forward for further honours if the need arises later in the year.
Fearless Prediction
It’s make or break time for the Brumbies if they are to feature in the finals. They have only three matches remaining whilst their Aussie rivals have four and will need to win all three to be a chance. They do have the advantage of winning the last five matches at home and that should get them over the line in this one.
Brumbies by 7
 |  | 
|
|---|---|---|
| Scott Sio | 1 | Toby Smith |
| Stephen Moore | 2 | Pat Leafa |
| Ruan Smith | 3 | Laurie Weeks |
| Scott Fardy | 4 | Cadeyrn Neville |
| Sam Carter | 5 | Luke Jones |
| Fotu Auelua | 6 | Colby Faingaa |
| Jarrad Butler | 7 | Scott Fuglistaller |
| Ben Mowen (c) | 8 | Scott Higginbotham (c) |
| Nic White | 9 | Ben Meehan |
| Matt Toomua | 10 | Bryce Hegarty |
| Clyde Rathbone | 11 | Tom English |
| Christian Lealiifano | 12 | Mitch Inman |
| Tevita Kuridrani | 13 | Tamati Ellison |
| Henry Speight | 14 | Male Sau |
| Pat McCabe | 15 | Jason Woodward |
| Reserves | ||
| Josh Mann-Rea | 16 | Shota Horie |
| Ben Alexander | 17 | Cruze Ah-Nau |
| JP Smith | 18 | Paul Alo-Emile |
| Leon Power | 19 | Hugh Pyle |
| Jordan Smiler | 20 | Jordy Reid |
| Michael Dowsett | 21 | Josh Holmes |
| Andrew Smith | 22 | Jack Debreczeni |
| Jesse Mogg | 23 | Tom Kingston |
| Location: | Canberra Stadium | Canberra |
| Kickoff: | Sat 31 May 19:40 | |
| Referee: | Steve Walsh | |
| Assistant Ref 1: | James Leckie | |
| Assistant Ref 2: | Will Houston | |
| TMO : | Peter Marshall |
Stats provided by Opta Sports
