The Brumbies don’t believe former skipper Stephen Moore’s eight Super Rugby seasons with the club will give him an advantage when he returns to Canberra as the Queensland Reds stand-in captain.
Moore racked up 117 Super Rugby caps for the Canberra-based franchise between 2009 and 2016 before switching back to Queensland ahead of this season.
He departed as one of the Brumbies’ greatest players but will be aiming to stop them extending their record Australian derby winning streak to 10 in Saturday night’s match at GIO Stadium.
“I think things have changed since he was here last year,” Brumbies veteran Andrew Smith said.
“We’ve got new guys in. We’ve got different cores and different structures.”
Moore was one of a trio of experienced stars who departed for other clubs at the end of last season along with Matt Toomua (Leicester) and Joe Tomane (Montpellier).
Flanker David Pocock is on sabbatical, while flyhalf Christian Lealiifano is recovering from leukaemia and Argentinian halfback Tomas Cubelli’s knee injury is likely to prevent him from playing this season.
While the dearth of experience in their playing ranks prompted predictions the Brumbies may struggle, they remain on top of the Australian conference with two wins and three bonus-point losses after having the week off.
Flanker Chris Alcock, one of the new faces who has contributed to the Brumbies’ solid start, came up against his former team the Western Force in his third Brumbies’ appearance earlier in the year.
He said inside information had little value in a new season.
“Everything changes at the end of the year – new players come in,” Alcock said.
“I was literally just focused on making sure my role for the Brumbies was right.”
Moore won’t be the only Brumbies great in a Reds jersey on Saturday night, with George Smith set to play his first game against his former club.
Alcock is relishing the chance to face-off against the 36-year-old Wallabies legend.
“You watch his games and he still has great involvements all the time and he does change the game,” Alcock said.
“He’s a good ball player, a good runner and really good in defence. He just adapts really well to the situation.”
While the Brumbies will aim to continue their domination of Australian sides, the Reds are out to snap a five-game losing streak.
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