1
McKellar: Australian teams not respected
By Online Editors
The Brumbies head south faced with a massive task. Breaking the trans-tasman curse New Zealand Super Rugby sides hold over the Australian franchises.
A win for the Brumbies against the Highlanders would halt the New Zealand sides' 33-match winning streak over the Australians, which stems back to 2016.
The Brumbies head into the fixture oozing with confidence after their 45-21 win over the Reds last weekend.
The Reds opened up a 15-0 lead and Brumbies responded with seven unanswered tries.
Brumbies head coach Dan McKellar knows all too well that the Highlanders are a totally different beast and has even stated that Australian sides are not respected in New Zealand.
"Currently Australian teams are not respected in New Zealand - so we have to go there and change it," McKellar said.
"We had a really good week and took confidence out of a win over the Reds, but what we did against the Reds isn't going to cut it in Dunedin. We have to be better.
"When we look at our recent visits to New Zealand, its never been one-sided, it's just critical moments in the game where haven't won."
The last time the Brumbies played the Highlanders were in 2013 and the Australians secured a 30-19 win in Round nine - thus, for the mentor, ending the Kiwi dominance is not that far-fetched.
McKellar emphasised the importance of sticking to the plan and to seize the game-changing moments for the positive result.
"New Zealand is intimidating. So is South Africa, that's just the nature of being on the road.
"This is a real opportunity for us to earn some respect as a club and put a line in the sand, because I think we're all a little bit sick of talking about the hoodoo that apparently exists," McKellar revealed.
"Think with the Highlander or any New Zealand side you have to keep them under pressure, make sure you score points and get out of your 22 quickly. Furthermore, you have to take your opportunities.
"The New Zealand teams play for 80-minutes and in certain points in the game, for example, like if a player gets sin-binned they lift as a group and put you under pressure.
"Think it is just about us getting our plan right and making sure we play for 80-minutes.
"The last time we went to Dunedin was in 2013 and we won well."
@rugby365com
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Jake White: Ireland, Australia and Wales have the same problem
3
David Campese names his Springbok world player of the year winner
4
Let's be real about these All Blacks
5
Latest Comments
There is nothing particularly significant about Ireland in this regard compared to other Tier 1 nations. To look at 'strategy' for illegal play its best to see what teams push boundaries with new laws. SA have milked two tries at ruck block downs. The strategy is to charge the first few before the ball is out at about 4 seconds but pull out and put up hands in reigned apology. The referees usually allow the scum half to clear without awarding a penalty in this scenario. The problem with that being that the scrumhalf is now taking over 5 seconds through no fault of his own. Having achieved a few slow balls > 5s , the SA forward can now pick a scrum to charge dead on 5s. Now if the scrum half waits, he will concede a penalty, as we saw against Scotland. With the new rule in place, any early charge should result in an immediate penalty.
SA also got an offside block against England which was pivotal again after a couple of 'apologetic' offside aborted charges forcing England to clear slowly.
Go to commentsYep, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed are you?
Go to comments