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Why the Brumbies ‘need’ a winning bonus point against embattled Waratahs
By AAP
The ACT Brumbies are out to pile on the tries against an embattled NSW Waratahs, with every bonus point key in their quest for a top-two Super Rugby Pacific finish.
The Brumbies have their work cut out to haul in the second-placed Blues, who sit six points above them with four regular-season rounds remaining.
But with the Blues playing the ladder-leading Hurricanes on Saturday, Stephen Larkham's charges will be eager to close the gap on the top two and a home semi-final spot.
"We're very conscious that we need bonus points to get to where we want to get to at the end of the season," the Brumbies coach told reporters on Thursday.
The second-from-bottom Waratahs will be determined to upset their local rivals, with a finals place of their own still not out of the question.
The Brumbies have freshened up their squad to face the Tahs, with Jack Debreczeni named in the No.10 jersey for the first time this year, but maintain they won't be taking their opponents lightly.
"We know how important this game is for both teams," Larkham said.
"There's always lots of emotion at the start of these games ... and we're also conscious of not burning too much energy through the week.
"They've still got lots of individuals who are quite dangerous with ball in hand.
"The situation that they're in, in terms of where they are in the ladder and what these last four games mean to them, we're just expecting a lot of physicality."
Prop James Slipper will start on the bench for the Brumbies after battling a niggling back issue against the Fijian Drua last time out.
In another boost for Larkham's side, winger Ben O'Donnell has been named on the bench as he makes his long-awaited return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
"It's been a long journey for Ben," the coach said.
"His rugby IQ is fantastic, his skill-set is very versatile and we expect him to add a lot of confidence to the team and the players around him."
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Latest Comments
Well lets hope so. England have developed a very strong kicking game and I'm all for them going to it on a regular basis to get into the right areas of the field but they need to find the right balance. They've been far too predictable and far too low risk. Tindall recently summed up my thoughts on this... “rugby is a pressure game, it's about building phases”. Against Scotland they almost never went over 2 phases, it was super weird. None of the top 4 sides are playing in this manner, I don't see where the precedent is for this staccato style of play. We've got an exceptional group of loose forwards developing, let's make use of that quick ball! Hopefully the Welsh game is a turning point and the coaches will trust the players to take a few more risks. It's not that I have anything against kicking in test matches, it's absolutely essential that we kick well but we do that already, it's the rest of the attack which has been missing. This relentless kicking isn't the way the best sides win test matches these days. Kick well, kick lots but we need to be setup to take advantage of quick ball and defensive misalignments around the halfway line and we need to build pressure by going multiphase in the 22 instead of grubber kicking it or crossfielding with such high regularity.
Go to commentsAgreed, seen far too many false dawns as an England fan and here are still far too many question marks over Borthwick and his coaching team. The Scotland and Ireland performances were still poor, even if we managed to stay on the right side of the scoreboard on one of them. France game we were fortunate but we at least played well
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