The Brumbies can strengthen their hold on top spot in the Australian conference with a win when they meet the Blues in Auckland tonight. We’ll have live scores from 5.35pm AEST.
The Brumbies head across the Tasman after a bruising encounter in Sydney last weekend, which they eventually lost 28-22.
But the loss wasn’t the worst of coach Jake White’s concerns. George Smith suffered medial ligament damage that is likely to keep him out until July, and centre Pat McCabe also picked up knee ligament damage and will miss the game.
It continued what has been an indifferent month or so for the Brumbies, having also lost to the Crusaders and drawn with the Reds, though they did hammer the Force 41-7.
The Blues had a torrid time last Saturday night when they were mauled by the Crusaders 23-3 in a wet affair, and while their forwards held their own against the Crusaders’ pack for the first 60 minutes they were eventually overpowered in the final 20.
With rain predicted in Auckland tonight it is expected they’ll face another test against a physical Brumbies unit.
The advantage the Blues get from Smith’s absence for the Brumbies will be somewhat negated by the loss of Steve Luatua, who is out with a neck injury, with Brendon O’Connor coming in at blindside.
This is the kind of contest that genuinely could go either way, with the side that dominates at the breakdown likely to come out on top tonight.
Can the Brumbies stay on top of the Australian Conference, or will the Blues send them home empty-handed? Find out from 5.35pm AEST as we cover the action with live scores.
Mark Richmond
Roar Guru
It was borderline whether he was offside RB, and if he had intercepted it would have been a 95m length of the field try......Ref and touchie didn't think it was offside that's why they awarded a scrum for the knock on.
Who Needs Melon
Roar Guru
It must have been that DeLorean: http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/05/22/looking-forward-to-the-2015-wallabies/
bmwwilliams
Guest
the actual reasoning is unclear Kuruki. My understanding is that White needed surgery but was willing to delay if he was a chance of playing for the Wallabies - Deans made it clear to White that he was not a chance, so he went ahead and had the surgery. The injury woes then played out after the decision had been made.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
Yes great to see, Unfortunately for the Blues it took away that home advantage that has won many a match for the home side this year and probably would have won them this one. Ali Williams was basically saying "hey ref you do realize we are the home side right?"
Kuruki
Roar Guru
You can thank Kirwan for Ranger drifting in and out of games. Why would you move such a key player to the wing to accommodate a journeyman like Jackson W? i like the dude but geez the Blues needed a game breaker and they put him out to get a cold on the wing.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
Is White the halfback that had surgery because Deans failed to mention he could be in the running for a Wallaby jumper last season?
Kuruki
Roar Guru
The problem is the laws are open to interpretation. Just like the ones that run the world. it doesn't matter what it looks like to anyone else, the person at the top is always right by "law".
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Such wise posting on here: throw a debutant into the key 9 decision-making positions for a must win series. Incredible idea.
Well Ruck me.
Guest
Yes Deans is crazy for not selecting White. What I want to know is how you went into the future to find that out?
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
Because nobody is talking about putting White in the starting XV?
Lex
Guest
the following comment is in relation to the discussion of laws on Toomua's disallowed try. I meant to put it in the right place in the blog but put it here by mistake. THe exception to the definition of "Knock-on" in Law 12 states that a charge-down is not a knock-on. It follows that laws concerning knock-ons do not apply to charge-downs. In this case I think the ball struck Carter's foot and rebounded forwards. Toomua was in front of Carter and therefore offside if it was deemed to have been kicked by Carter. The definition of a kick is a bit unclear. It refers to "hitting the ball with any part of the leg below the knee of the foot". To me "hitting" seems to require a positive action by the player, you don't "kick" the ball just because it strikes your foot. Further it seems reasonable that if a charge- down with the arms is not a knock-on, the ball striking the foot in a similar situation is not a kick. For that reason I am still puzzled as to why the try was not given. I am not a ref, so perhaps the refs on the board could explain the laws.
Boomeranga
Guest
Why is inexperience an issue for Toomua but not White?
PeterK
Roar Guru
oj - agree, the ref should of awarded a lot more penalties to the brumbies for how many times the blues stood up or collapsed. The ref took pity on the blues and their scrum.
Bmwwilliams
Guest
Had never bought into the Deans conspiracy theories til that came up (left it for the Qlders). But can't think of any rational reason for giving Burgess special treatment, apart from an intense personal dislike of Nic White.
roardog
Guest
kev he,s a queenslander , i thought we supported our own
roardog
Guest
at least elisha they always play to their coaches instructions, in some games it has cost them a win ,this one wasn,t one of them. every coach in any sport would love to have a side like the brumbies that play to the coach,s instructions to the letter, a lot of coaches have lost their livelehood to players wanting to do their own thing.
mikeylives
Guest
Tomane's kick chasing reminds me of Habana circa 2010
Ben.S
Roar Guru
Still fronting with the SBW hate, eh...
Who Needs Melon
Roar Guru
Toomua was very good too. Solid. Controlled. Great fundamentals. QC still my vote as the best 10 in Oz but Toomua is definitely 2nd best... And if you want a solid 10 that defends solidly, etc. then Toomua is probably the best. Anyhoo...
Red Kev
Roar Guru
It'll look worse when you see that first Luke Burgess pass late in one of the Lions tests