Roar Guru
Australian Super Rugby teams have enjoyed their best collective weekend in almost three months as the Brumbies kept a pulse going on their finals prospects.
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Final score
Brumbies 41
Sunwolves 31
It’s the last game of an enthralling round of Super Rugby when the Brumbies host the Sunwolves in the nation’s capital on Sunday afternoon. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 4:05pm AEST.
First, the Brumbies. They need to win.
With the Rebels and Waratahs recording strong victories this round, the Brumbies need to win in order to stay within touching distance of the top two in the Australian conference.
This game has a bit of a “must-win” feel about it, thus.
It’s been a slow and jittery tournament for the Brumbies, and they will look to their last start win over the Bulls in South Africa last week as motivation to turn it on for their home fans.
In team news, hooker Connal McInerny gets his starting debut, whilst the dangerous backrow of McCaffrey, Pocock and Naisirani continue to impress.
For the Sunwolves, Jamie Joseph has made 10 changes to his match day 23 that was defeated by the Rebels last week.
Robbie Robinson returns at the back, pushing Jason Emery to outside centre. Form right winger Hosea Saumaki is sidelined with a knee injury, Semisi Masirewa taking his place.
In the forwards, Ed Quirk shifts from number 8 to openside flanker, with Rahboni Warren Vosayako taking his place. Sam Wykes returns in the second row in a boost for the Japanese outfit.
Where the game will be won?
I’ll use this opportunity to say, I think the line that has been set for the Sunwolves with bookmakers (+29.5) is unbelievably misguided.
They’ve lost only one game this season by more than that margin, and that was when they were understrength against a rampant Chiefs outfit. It will definitely be closer than that.
The Brumbies backline has so much pace, however, and Tevita Kuridrani’s partnership with Kyle Godwin is starting to flourish. Playing with the confidence of their last start win, they should have just enough to stave off a hungry Sunwolves outfit.
Brumbies by 12.
Join The Roar for live scores of the match, starting from 4:05pm AEDT.