Force aim to halt Brumbies’ finals march
Western Force want to dent the Brumbies’ Super Rugby semi-finals hopes at nib Stadium tonight with a repeat of their surprise 2013 victory.
In their final game of that year and with just three previous wins, the Force’s 21-15 victory cost the Brumbies a top-two spot and a home preliminary final.
The ACT side finished third, had to travel to Pretoria to beat the Bulls and lost the final to the Chiefs in New Zealand.
They are currently sixth, level on points with the Waratahs but just two ahead of the Lions. A loss tonight would mean a difficult trip to Christchurch to face the Crusaders in the final round.
A bonus-point victory in would all but secure them a finals berth
Crucial to tonight’s game will be the fierce breakdown battle where Force captain Matt Hodgson will be up against former teammates David Pocock and Scott Fardy.
Force coach Michael Foley said the Brumbies had been particularly good at the ruck this season.
“Pocock and Fardy are the two keys in that area for them. Pocock’s exceptional, one of the best in the world if not the best,” Foley said.
“They are very good at slowing your ball down, they are also good at holding the ball for long periods, but when we are under pressure Matt puts his body on the line.
“He plays his best rugby when he plays tough in defence and smart in attack. I think you’ll see him vary his game a little bit.
“We’ve got to get the ball in the right parts of the field, hang onto it and I think we can do some things that will surprise the Brumbies.”
Foley also expects the rolling maul to feature heavily.
“Both teams will maul tomorrow night and you’ll see a good contest there.” he said.
“That was certainly a feature of the first game against them and I thought we defended that part of the game very well.
“When it collapsed they picked and went out of that and it opened up some little opportunities. We’ve got to defend the maul and we’ve got to defend what’s next as well.
“You’ve got to be aggressive up front before they get organised. Your front three have to do a lot of damage to their front three in a legal way.”
Brumbies captain Stephen Moore admitted his side was under huge pressure.
“We have to win to stay in the competition, there’s no way to sugar coat that,” Moore said.
“You can package it up however you like, but we need to win. The pressure’s unavoidable in this circumstance.”
Foley has made four changes with veteran second-rower Sam Wykes starting in his final home game before heading off to join winger Nick Cummins for a two-year stint with Japanese club Red Sparks.
Prop Guy Millar makes his first run-on appearance after three matches on the reserves bench while Alby Mathewson and Zack Holmes will be the starting halves pairing.
the Brumbies have made just one change with second-rower Blake Enever replacing Sam Carter who is out for up to 12 weeks with a medial ligament tear in his knee.
