Into the eye of the storm for Brumbies
ALL Blacks star flyhalf Beauden Barrett’s return boosts defending champions Wellington Hurricanes against the ACT Brumbies as New Zealand look to underline their dominance over Australian sides in today’s Super Rugby quarterfinal.
Four Kiwi teams are in this weekend’s playoffs with the Crusaders hosting the Highlanders in an all-New Zealand quarterfinal and the Brumbies qualifying as the Australian conference winner.
It has been a miserable season for Aussie sides, losing all 25 encounters against New Zealand opposition, and the Brumbies face a tough examination to stay in the title race against the Hurricanes in chilly Canberra.
Barrett missed last week’s final match of the regular season against the Crusaders with a sinus infection, while All Blacks hooker Dane Coles will play his first match in four months off the reserve bench following concussion issues.
The Brumbies were smashed 56-21 by the Hurricanes in Napier this season but overall the two-time winners hold an 8-4 advantage over them in Canberra.
“The Brumbies are a quality side and we’re not reading anything into their results this season,” Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd said.
Cancer survivor Christian Lealiifano will make his long-awaited return for the Brumbies off the bench, with the Wallaby flyhalf out of action since his diagnosis with leukaemia last August.
The seven-time champion Crusaders have made five changes and three positional tweaks to their starting 15 for the showdown with the Highlanders tomorrow.
There is a fresh frontrow of Joe Moody, Codie Taylor and Owen Franks, while All Black lock Sam Whitelock returns to the starting line-up to captain the team and Ryan Crotty is named at inside-centre.
The Highlanders are boosted by the return to the backline of Ben and Aaron Smith, along with Richard Buckman on the left wing and Rob Thompson in midfield.
“It’s going to be an epic encounter, playing the New Zealand conference winners at home, obviously an extremely tough assignment against an experienced and well performed team,” said Highlanders coach Tony Brown.
The Golden Lions, who finished top of the regular season standings, will be strong favourites to win their home quarterfinal against the Durban-based Sharks.
The Johannesburg-based side have twice got the better of the Sharks this season and dominated most aspects of last week’s encounter, which they won 27-10.
“I didn’t think our intensity was good enough in Durban, but there are small things that we’ll fix,” said Lions coach Johan Ackermann. “There remains a great deal of confidence in the team.”
Coach Robbie Fleck insists his Western Stormers can overcome New Zealand’s Waikato Chiefs in tomorrow’s remaining quarterfinal in Cape Town despite their struggles in past playoffs.
The Chiefs overwhelmed the Stormers 6021 in last year’s corresponding quarterfinal at Newlands.
“It is what it is in terms of quarterfinals,” said Fleck. “We haven’t won those matches, but this is a new team and a new campaign.
“Everyone brings it up – how the Stormers don’t get through. We’ll get through this time, that’s going to be our focus.” — AFP