Brumbies
42
Match Complete
Western Force
14
| R. Lonergan |  | 70 | ||
| A. Muirhead |  | 69 | ||
| 65 | | I. Prior | ||
| 64 | | I. Prior | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 58 | ||
| L. Lonergan | | 57 | ||
| 54 | | I. Prior | ||
| 53 | | H. Taefu | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 39 | ||
| A. Muirhead | | 37 | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 33 | ||
| C. Neville | | 31 | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 26 | ||
| L. Ikitau | | 25 | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 20 | ||
| L. Ikitau | | 19 |
| 6 | Tries | 2 | ||
| 6 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
The Brumbies host the Force on Friday evening at GIO Stadium, Canberra. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:45pm (AEDT).
Both the Brumbies and the Force narrowly lost to the Queensland Reds in their respective last match. Both teams will be looking for redemption – especially the Brumbies, who seemed to have the measure of their opponent until their backup scrummagers were schooled. The Force performed better than most expected and will improve again today.
All of the Force matches this year were close with the exception of their first-round clash against the Brumbies, which was heavily contested until the last stanza. They scored tries and kicked many goals in various matches. But they were one-dimensional last week. They need to vary their attack if they want to win today.
The Brumbies are a try-scoring machine. While they are not the table-toppers, they lead the competition in points scored, tries scored and points difference. Their point-scoring machine continued despite the depletion of their front row in their losing match, notching 38 points. Today they are bolstered by the return of Queensland Reds reject James Slipper.
Slipper is a crucial component of the Brumbies past success and will be important in today’s game. His back five are the best in this year’s competition due to their strength, agility and adaptability. The men to look out for are replacement front-rowers Lachlan Lonergan, Fred Kaihea and Sefo Kautai. They hope to do a better job than the last backup front row that precipitated their demise.
The Force’s team is largely the same as their last with the exception of the injury to outside backs Rob Kearney and Richard Kahui. They are replaced by error-prone players. Sounds dangerous.
Ironically the other main challenge of the Force is getting the pill to the outside men. Their attack is premised on finding weaknesses in their opponents’ inside channels. Henry Taefu will be critical. Their back five are powerful but lack comparative agility and linking.
Prediction
The Brumbies are rested. They are at home. They are coming off a shock loss. While the Force will play well again and most probably improve again, a win against the Canberrans would be a miracle.
Game information
Kick-off: 7:45pm (AEDT)
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Live stream: Stan Sport
Betting: Brumbies $1.16, Force $5.10 (odds via PlayUp)
Teams
Brumbies
1. Harrison Lloyd, 2. Folau Fainga’a, 3. James Slipper, 4. Darcy Swain, 5. Caderyrn Neville, 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Jahrome Brown, 8. Pete Samu, 9. Nic White, 11. Mackenzie Hansen, 12. Irae Simone, 13. Len Ikitau, 14. Andy Muirhead, 15. Tom Banks
Bench: 16. Lachlan Lonergan, 17. Fred Kaihea, 18. Sosefo Kautai, 19. James Tucker, 20. Rory Scott, 21. Ryan Lonergan, 22. Reesjan Pasitoa, 23. Isaak Fines
Force
1. Tom Robertson, 2. Feleti Kaitu’u, 3. Greg Holmes, 4. Jeremy Thrush, 5. Sitaleki Timani, 6. Fergus Lee-Warner, 7. Kane Koteka, 8. Brynard Stander, 9. Tomas Cubelli, 10. Jake McIntyre, 11. Marcel Brache, 12. Henry Taefu, 13. Tevita Kuridrani, 14. Byron Ralston, 15. Jack McGregor
Bench: 16. Jack Winchester, 17. Angus Wagner, 18. Santiago Medrano, 19. Ryan McCauley, 20. Tim Anstee, 21. Ian Prior, 22. Jono Lance, 23. Jordan Olowofeal
jeznez
Roar Guru
Yep. Which was weird after Lloyd had so much trouble the week before. Never got to see a replay to see what was going on.
Ace
Guest
Slips Monstered Robertson all game .
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Not if you want to fly around it.
Sgt Pepperoni
Roar Rookie
Made even better by the fact that McGregor has the hair of Jerry Seinfeld
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
It doesn’t penalise interceptions. A deliberate knock on isn’t an interception. What it penalises is negative play. If you cannot catch the ball you can’t shut down am attacking play by deliberately making a handling error. A not releasing penalty is not hands in the ruck. You are rewarded for winning the ball before a ruck has formed.
Harry Jones
Expert
Flat earth would be simpler
Harry Jones
Expert
His presence in SR and test teams has always baffled me.
ScottD
Roar Guru
Hard to wake up to this scoreline . Looks like a terrible first half for the Force on the scoreboard. I hope it makes them angry
MakingNumbers
Roar Rookie
Just made my way through the replay. Tough night out for the Force! Brumbies were relentless in kicking for the corner, Force did well to deny the Brumbies in most attempts but no SR team will hold the Brumbies out all night. A few upsides for the Force on display; Kuridrani is finally playing his natural game again. The forces depth in the second row is something to be envied by all SR AU teams. Despite Cubellis natural gifts, Prior has a better outcome on the teams game. Lastly, I sure hope Tim Anstee's manager only signed him for one year at the Force. He has the opportunity create a bidding war for his services next year.
piru
Roar Rookie
He was much better tonight, defence especially
egbert
Guest
Yes that yellow card for attempted interception that is deemed a deliberate knock-down is infuriating. In RL it's good play!
DJ
Roar Rookie
Scrum seemed pretty strong with him there. They won quite a few penalties.
Adsa
Roar Rookie
How did Slipp's play at 3?
In brief
Guest
Just watching the replay now. Man, there are some things about rugby that really frustrate me. The only sport that penalises interceptions ( deliberate knock on), and rewards good play with a penalty (hands in the ruck which means the defender touches the ball released or not) and scrum ‘dominance’ which basically means - well no one really knows.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Not really how I saw it. Holmes seemed to be the one dropping the TH side mostly.
Braddles
Guest
Tom Robertson is just not Super Rugby Standard.Force need a quality loosehead ASAP.
robel
Roar Pro
rats.
laith
Guest
Tiny Boned Tommy Robertson has had an absolute Shocker.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Brums gotta be pretty happy as some new and newish guys got some time. Pete Samu deserved THAT hit because he hogged the pill and bombed a certain try.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Yep, what a difference. Robbo had Thor last week (generally) and Slipper belted Robbo tonight.