With not much to choose from this weekend, this should be the match of the round, between the two Australian teams who finished first and second in their conference last year.
There is a debut for Wallaby David Pocock while Clyde Rathbone makes his much publicised return to professional rugby after retiring 3 years back. This Brumbies team took a year last year to grow and will only get better as the confidence grows.
The Reds managed to get to the playoffs on 2012 when defending their title, and will be hard pressed to get there again this year, with two competitive teams in the conference in the Brumbies and Waratahs.
This should be a close encounter, as we come to expect from an Australian derby, but if yesterday’s match is anything to go by, the players will put their best foot forward at all times to get themselves in contention for the squad to face the British and Irish Lions.
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Clyde Rathbone, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (captain),7 David Pocock, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Siliva Siliva, 17 Ruaidhri Murphy, 18 Colby Faingaa, 19 Fotu Auelua, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Joseph Tomane, 22 Robbie Coleman.
Reds:15 Mike Harris, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Aidan Toua, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Ben Lucas, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Eddie Quirk, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 3 James Slipper (c), 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Greg Holmes
Replacements: 16 Albert Anae, 17 James Hanson, 18 Ed O’Donoghue, 19 Jarrad Butler, 20 Nick Frisby, 21 Jono Lance, 22 Chris F’Sautia
Tweet
Brumbies Try!
Brumbies 5 Reds 3 – 9 mins
Still Brumbies 5 Reds 3 – 23mins
Brumbies 5 Reds 6 – 25mins
Got the Ponies by 2
Brumbies 8 Red 6 37mins
@SteelShark (Comment 5) : I have them by 12…..not sure WHAT i was thinking….
Half Time: Brumbies 8 Red 6 . .. .Both kickers having an off day. Some promising breaks from the Brumbies – Reds defense solid though.
@Just a Fan (Comment 7) : Aussie derbies tend to be close afairs
But big margins do happen.
Brumbies 11 Reds 6 – 51mins
Brumbies 14 Reds 6 – 57mins….
Reds! Catch up but dont overtake!
Brumbies 17 Reds 6 – 74mins
Come on Reds! Late try please
Brumbies intercept!
Jesse Mog 2nd try of the game.
2 from 2
Hey – off to a winning start with the predictions. Got both right.
@robdylan (Comment 19) :
Has the points system changed? Last year everyone on a bye got 4 points.
@klempie (Comment 21) : No byes just yet.
@SteelShark (Comment 22) : waratahs didn’t play though and it stated they had a bye.
This is BS. The waratahs gets 4points for a bye but I do not get a gsp on superbru this weekend. Wtf?
@shaniboi (Comment 23) :
Week 1 was Aussie teams only, same as week 17. Week 18 and 19 will be SA & NZ teams only