The equation is simple for the Brumbies and the Force on Friday night – Win and you’re in the finals; lose and your finals destiny is out of your hands.
The Force are on the cusp of their finals debut after a stellar season that exceeded the expectations of those away from the inner sanctum but they come up against last years Runners-Up who are looking to make it back-to-back finals appearances.
The Brumbies have a wealth of experience returning to the side that lost to the Waratahs and there are some big names in that list including Sam Carter, Matt Toomua with Pat McCabe and Joe Tomane on the bench and those names will be looking to bring back some consistency and cohesion, particularly to the backline. The Brumbies will also welcome back Josh Mann-Rea to hooker to take the pressure of Ruaidhri Murphy who struggled with the move from prop.
The Force are in uncharted territory and the loss of Hugh McMeniman due to suspension will be a big loss for the most important game in the club’s history. It will be a big task for the team to keep a cool head and not get ahead of themselves and Matt Hodgson will need to get some consistency from his troops if they are to make the finals.
Key matchups:
The Breakdown
This is where the game will be won or lost. For the Force Matt Hodgson is a leader that leads by actions and his work around the breakdown will be keeping the Brumbies busy. Hodgson leads the turnover stats with 33, a whopping 10 in front of the next best, and the Force concede the fewest turnovers in the comp against a side who win the fewest turnovers.
Halves
Whilst not as important as the breakdown, the halves are an interesting part of the game as all four starters in the game have been part of the Brumbies setup.
Nic White and Matt Toomua are capped Wallabies whilst Ian Prior and Zack Holmes were their backups for two years under Jake White. That inside knowledge may help the Force as they go into battle without Alby Mathewson and Sias Ebersohn, although both will take their place on the bench as they return from injury.
Fearless Prediction
The Brumbies have only had the one game since the International Test break and got touched up by the Waratahs whilst the Force have had a disappointing loss to the Blues and a close win over the Reds, with both games in Perth.
As much as everyone loves a fairytale ending, I’m tipping the Brumbies. It would be great if it was in a high scoring, close win so that the Force also make it into the finals at the expense of a Kiwi side but the conditions forecast for Friday night don’t look great for free flowing rugby.
 |  | 
|
|---|---|---|
| Scott Sio | 1 | Pek Cowan |
| Josh Mann-Rea | 2 | Nathan Charles |
| Ben Alexander | 3 | Kieran Longbottom |
| Leon Power | 4 | Sam Wykes |
| Sam Carter | 5 | Wilhelm Steenkamp |
| Scott Fardy | 6 | Brynard Stander |
| Jarrad Butler | 7 | Matt Hodgson (c) |
| Ben Mowen (c) | 8 | Ben McCalman |
| Nic White | 9 | Ian Prior |
| Matt Toomua | 10 | Zack Holmes |
| Clyde Rathbone | 11 | Nick Cummins |
| Christian Lealiifano | 12 | Chris Tuatara-Morrison |
| Tevita Kuridrani | 13 | Solomoni Rasolea |
| Henry Speight | 14 | Dayne Haylett-Petty |
| Jesse Mogg | 15 | Jayden Hayward |
| Reserves | ||
| Ruaidhri Murphy | 16 | Heath Tessmann |
| Ruan Smith | 17 | Tetera Faulkner |
| JP Smith | 18 | Oliver Hoskins |
| Fotu Auelua | 19 | Adam Coleman |
| Tom McVerry | 20 | Chris Alcock |
| Michael Dowsett | 21 | Alby Mathewson |
| Pat McCabe | 22 | Luke Burton |
| Joe Tomane | 23 | Dillyn Leyds/Sias Ebersohn |
| Location: | GIO Stadium Canberra | Canberra |
| Kickoff: | Fri 11 Jul 19:40 | |
| Referee: | Steve Walsh | |
| Assistant Ref 1: | Angus Gardner | |
| Assistant Ref 2: | Andrew Lees | |
| TMO : | Steve Leszczynski |
Stats provided by Opta Sports
