ACT Brumbies coach Dan McKellar has told Western Force he means no disrespect for fielding a team missing several front line players, including skipper Allan Alaalatoa, this weekend.
The Brumbies have opted to rest a host of key players for the match following last week’s bruising 16-12 win over the Queensland Reds.
Wallabies forwards James Slipper and Alaalatoa have been given the week off, while flyhalf Noah Lolesio will be missing because of an ankle injury.
Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White may also not play due to the impending birth of his third child.
White didn’t board the flight to Perth on Thursday, but he’s a chance to make the flight west on Friday.
If White doesn’t make the trip then Lachie Albert will replace him on the bench.
McKellar doesn’t want the Force to take his decision to rest players the wrong way.
“I want to make sure there’s no disrespect here to the opposition at all,” McKellar said.
“It was always part of our plan, (it was) a big scrum game last week against the Reds.
“Pretty much the best part of 12 hours on a plane or sitting at airports.
“So I just thought it was a good opportunity to freshen up the front row in particular, provide opportunity for boys who have worked hard.”
The changes means out-of-favour prop Scott Sio has been handed a starting berth.
The Force escaped with a last-gasp 20-18 win over Fijian Drua last week after inside centre Bayley Kuenzle nailed a penalty after the siren.
Force centre Kyle Godwin has set his sights on knocking the Brumbies off their perch in Friday night’s game, saying the round-one loss in Canberra remains a sore spot for the team.
The Brumbies are the only unbeaten outfit in Super Rugby Pacific this season after winning their opening five matches.
But it could have been different had the Force held their nerve when clinging to a late lead in round one in Canberra.
The Force hit the front through a Jake McIntyre try in the 77th minute.
But the euphoria was short lived with Lachie Lonergan crossing two minutes later to snatch the win for the Brumbies.
Godwin has been hanging out for Friday night’s rematch at HBF Park, with the former Wallaby eager to turn the tables.
“That last game was a bit of a sore spot for us,” Godwin said.
“We definitely had that win in our grasp and we let it slip in the last couple of minutes.
“We learnt a lot of lessons there, personally as well myself. Hopefully we can get one-up on them tomorrow night.
“They’re undefeated this season and we want to be the team that knocks them off their perch tomorrow night.”
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Despite making progress last round, the Melbourne Rebels are meanwhile far from satisfied as a first Super Rugby Pacific win proves elusive.
Melbourne host the Fijian Drua at AAMI Park on Friday, with the game presenting as a prime opportunity for a breakthrough as the newcomers’ sole victory in the opening five rounds came against the Rebels in round three.
Then Melbourne blew a 14-0 lead and failed to take advantage of a Drua yellow card, with the Fijians scoring three long-range tries either side of halftime plus a slew of penalties to earn a 31-26 win.
Last round the Rebels improved but suffered a five-point loss to the NSW Waratahs in Sydney, and winger Andrew Kellaway said they wouldn’t be happy until they got a victory.
“It’s important to note it was an improvement, we definitely got better there and for the first time since the Drua game we were in with a chance to win the game,” Kellaway said on Thursday.
“It’s important to take the positives out of that but it’s still another loss.
“We’re still not where we want to be.”
Among eight changes, 19-year-old Victorian-born lock Daniel Maiava has been named to make his debut from the Rebels bench.
James Tuttle has relegated starting halfback Joe Powell to the bench.
Lock Matt Philip said he thought Tuttle’s game style would suit Melbourne’s plans to counter the Drua.
“I’m pretty excited to play with ‘Bobby’ – he’s a pretty special guy and a lot of people say he’s the ultimate team man, ” the Wallabies forward said.
“He’s got great game management skill behind him and that’s what we need tomorrow night – someone who’s going to help steer the ship, play the right parts of the field and play the style of rugby that’s going to help us win and not suit them as much, I guess.”
Philip said the Rebels needed to control of the game and play it at their preferred tempo rather than let the Fijians play unstructured rugby, where they flourished.
“For large parts of that last game against them we did do that but as soon as we started to not execute things, drop a few balls or just take the full throttle for a little bit, they scored,” Phillip said.
“They’re a pretty good team to watch but not as fun to play against.”
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