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Pocock set for long-awaited return
By RugbyPass
Wallaby flanker David Pocock will make his long-awaited return to action this weekend after being named in the Brumbies team to take on the Waratahs on Saturday.
Pocock will notch his 100th Super Rugby match, after playing 69 with the Western Force before joining the Brumbies in 2013.
Pocock's addition is the only change to Dan McKellar's starting side that beat the Sharks in week five.
McKellar has been forced to make several changes on the bench due to injury and unavailability, with prop Mees Erasmus in line for a Super Rugby debut.
Erasmus is joined by the returning Robbie Abel and fellow prop Faalelei Sione whilst Richie Arnold and Tom Cusack provide cover in the lock department and back-row respectively.
There also appears to be plenty in reserve amongst the backs with Matt Lucas, Kyle Godwin and Tom Banks ready to step off the bench and make their mark in a match that is traditionally one of the highlights of the season.
BRUMBIES
1. Scott Sio, 2. Folau Fainga'a, 3. Allan Alaalatoa, 4. Rory Arnold, 5. Blake Enever, 6. Lachlan McCaffrey, 7. David Pocock, 8. Isa Naisarani, 9. Joe Powell, 10. Wharenui Hawera, 11. Lausii Taliauli, 12. Christian Leali'ifano, 13. Chris Kuridrani, 14. Henry Speight, 15. Andy Muirhead.
Reserves: 16. Robbie Abel, 17. Faalelei Sione, 18. Mees Erasmus, 19. Richie Arnold, 20. Tom Cusack, 21. Matt Lucas, 22. Kyle Godwin, 23. Tom Banks.
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Latest Comments
Yeah me too. I think the Welsh have it in them to make it a contest in the first half. Give the boks' second stringers a headache. Disrupting lineouts is one area the welsh could cause problems. Bok lineouts have been subpar.
And then fronting up in the collisions and at the rucks. If the boks get the ascendancy there too early, it could be a hiding. Jaden hendrikse had a tough game against the Scots - who were very good at disrupting the boks flow. The welsh would have taken note of this i'm sure.
But the bok bench will finish the welsh off i'm afraid.
Go to commentsYes, certainly. As an AB fan happy to be included in that top 3 of "matches that are routinely decided by one score" now, we were well outside that for a few years.
They have not had enough games yet. You can't undo so many poor years just like that. Asking for miracles like SA losing is not the way to get back to number 1.
They might get there as those bad years filter out of the rankings but it's guarenteed to be great fun going back and forth with SA once that happens.
Admittedly Foster only really had one bad year (21/22 season), but that's more likely because COVID stopped a lot of tough games from being played, and effected the other countries they did play far more than themselves.
A real shame we both don't get to see it unfold first with our regions teams in SR!
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