The Brumbies take on one of the most daunting prospects in Super Rugby this weekend when they play the Bulls in Pretoria for a place in the Super Rugby final.
The hosts have never been beaten in a finals match at Loftus Versfeld and will be looking to continue that streak boosted by a raucous home crowd of around 50,000 rugby mad fans.
The Brumbies know they will have to improve on last weeks performance when they just fell over the line against the unfancied Cheetahs in Canberra. Straight after that win they made the trip to Sydney before embarking on a 14 hour flight to the Republic in the hope of giving them their best chance of winning.
To help their cause coach Jake White has announced an unchanged lineup that gives the squad some stability heading into their biggest game yet in the two years under White’s leadership. The transformation in those two years has even exceeded White’s expectations and shows what hard work can do.
The squad will also be boosted by the news that twelve of the squad have been selected in Ewen McKenzie’s 40-man squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship.
This week’s game probably won’t be one for the rugby purists. With so much on the line, both teams will probably resort to their main weapons – their kickers. The Brumbies will aim to pin the Bulls down in their own half on the back of the boots of Nic White, Matt Toomua and Jesse Mogg and then rely on their forwards to assert dominance at the breakdown.
This tactic can be dangerous depending on how the referee interprets the ruck area and the Brumbies will need to get on top early so that Morne ‘Kickbot 3000’ Steyn doesn’t tick the scoreboard over in three’s all night for the home side if that style doesn’t work.
To prove how much the Bulls rely on Steyn’s boot, the last time the Brumbies played in Pretoria they managed to outscore the Bulls five tries to two yet came out two point losers. Steyn contributed 26 points off his own boot and his value to the team is immeasurable. Discipline will be the key if the Brumbies are to ensure that they can cause a real boilover.
One area the Brumbies will definitely target is the scrum which is becoming a real weapon for them. Scott Sio has come along in leaps and bounds since taking over from the injured Dan Palmer and has earned a place in the upcoming Wallabies squad.
The last time these teams met this year in Canberra, the Brumbies just got over the line with a late penalty goal and even embarrassed the Bulls scrum to the extent that their replacement front rower Morne Mellett was yellow carded, something you don’t see often from a South African side.
Photographs courtesy of Tim Anger Photography www.timanger.com.au/
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Brumbies
1. Scott Sio
2. Stephen Moore
3. Ben Alexander
4. Scott Fardy
5. Sam Carter
6. Peter Kimlin
7. George Smith
8. Ben Mowen (c)
9. Nic White
10. Matt Toomua
11. Clyde Rathbone
12. Christian Lealiifano
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Henry Speight
15. Jesse Mogg
Replacements
16. Siliva Siliva
17. Ruan Smith
18. Fotu Auelua
19. Colby Faingaa
20. Ian Prior
21. Andrew Smith
22. Joe Tomane
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Bulls
1. Dean Greyling
2. Chiliboy Ralepelle
3. Werner Kruger
4. Flip van der Merwe
5. Grant Hattingh
6. Deon Stegmann
7. Jacques Potgieter
8. Dewald Potgieter
9. Francois Hougaard
10. Morne Steyn
11. Bjorn Basson
12. Jan Serfontein
13. JJ Engelbrecht
14. Akona Ndungane
15. Zane Kirchner
Replacements
16. Callie Visagie
17. Frik Kirsten
18. Morne Mellett
19. Paul Willemse
20. Jono Ross
21. Jan Vermaak
22. Jurgen Visser
[/one_half]
Kick off: 1:05am (AEST) Sunday
Referee: Craig Joubert
AR1: Jonathan Kaplan
AR2: Marius Jonker
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
