The Brumbies have a chance to close the gap on the Waratahs when they take on the Sunwolves on Saturday night in Canberra.
Fresh off the bye, the home side will be looking to put in a strong performance before the June Internationals break before the short sprint to the Super Rugby finish line.
With 10 players named in the Wallabies squad this week, it will be important to put that in the back of their mind and focus on this weeks game as they attempt to claw their way back to the top of the Aussie conference.
Standing in their way this week are the Sunwolves whose coach Mark Hammett has made eight changes to the side that went down to the Reds last week. The Brumbies will be wary of being sucked into being complacent against an opposition who have been unpredictable this year as they have been belted by the Cheetahs yet then drew with the Stormers.
The Brumbies know only too well about being complacent against a new side. Back in 2013 they came up against the Kings at home and were expected to clean up but came up with a draw but they have run into a bit of form coming of wins over the Bulls at home and the Rebels in Melbourne.
Tomas Cubelli and Ben Alexander are being rested with Cubelli to be involved for Argentina against France and Italy so gives a starting chance to Michael Dowsett and from the bench, the man of the moment, Joe Powell, to show his call up to the Wallabies training squad is justified.
The other changes see Ruan Smith start at tighthead and Robbie Coleman is back from a minor injury that kept him out of the Rebels game two weeks ago.
KEY MATCHUPS
Stephen Moore v. Shota Horie
The Brumbies have named a near full strength forward pack which gives an indication to the type of game they will play. Moore leads the Brumbies from the front and Horie shows plenty of passion and his Super Rugby experience will help their pack.
Robbie Coleman v. Harumichi Tatekawa
Tatekawa spent a year with the Brumbies in 2014 and would have been asked plenty of questions by Hammett as to the inner workings of the Brumbies.
Robbie Coleman has had some big shoes to fill with the absence of Matt Toomua and was solid in his game against the Bulls and will be the key to hopefully getting Tevita Kuridrani into some open space.
Prediction
If the Brumbies are serious about reaching the finals, they need to secure a bonus point here. The fact the Sunwolves have made 8 changes and left Pisi and Viljoen on the bench should see the Brumbies home comfortably.
Teams
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BRUMBIES
1. Scott Sio
2. Stephen Moore (c)
3. Ruan Smith
4. Rory Arnold
5. Sam Carter
6. Scott Fardy
7. David Pocock
8. Jarrad Butler
9. Michael Dowsett
10. Christian Lealiifano (c)
11. James Dargaville
12. Robbie Coleman
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Nigel Ah Wong
15. Aidan Toua
RESERVES:
16. Josh Mann-Rea
17. Allan Alaalatoa
18. Leslie Leulua’iali’i-Makin
19. Tom Staniforth
20. Jordan Smiler
21. Joe Powell
22. Jordan Jackson-Hope
23. Lausii Taliauli
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SUNWOLVES
1. Keita Inagaki
2. Shota Horie
3. Takuma Asahara
4. Hitoshi Ono
5. Faatiga Lemalu
6. Liaki Moli
7. Andrew Durutalo
8. Ed Quirk
9. Yuki Yatomi
10. Yu Tamura
11. Akihito Yamada
12. Harumichi Tatekawa
13. Derek Carpenter
14. Mifiposeti Paea
15. Yasutaka Sasakura
RESERVES:
16. Takeshi Kizu
17. Ziun Gu
18. Shinosuke Kakinaga
19. Yoshiya Hosada
20. Taiyo Ando
21. Daisuke Inoue
22. Tusi Pisi
23. Riaan Viljoen
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