Young Brumbies on super campaign

SYDNEY - Brumbies coach Dan McKellar is confident that his team can bounce back from a narrow loss to the Reds as they travel to Melbourne to face the Rebels.

In their two clashes with the now-confirmed minor premiers, the Brumbies have led for 153 of the 160 minutes that they have played. However, they have come away with two losses ensuring that they will finish second as they wrap up hosting rights for the Qualifying Final on May 1.

With this in mind, the Brumbies have taken the chance to freshen up their squad, most notably resting Pete Samu, Tom Cusack and Irae Simone.

They have also moved Wallabies Nic White and James Slipper to the bench.

This allows local product Rory Scott and Lachlan Lonergan to get their first start of the season against the Rebels on Sunday, with McKellar eager to see them step up.

“A couple of the boys (James Slipper and Nic White) that have been around for a while and have had pretty heavy workloads both training and game-wise,” he said.

“Ryan Lonergan gets a crack there at halfback with Scotty (Sio) rotating in so we can get some good minutes into him and freshen both Whitey and Slips up.

“It's a really good chance for Rory Scott, who performed well this year, BK (Bailey Kuenzle) as well. No long-term injuries but a couple of bumps and bruises out of Saturday's physical game which is what you expect.” Whilst their spot in the finals is set, McKellar was adamant that their focus remained on Sunday's clash with the Rebels at AAMI Park, very familiar with their strengths after needing an 83rd-minute penalty to beat them in their corresponding fixture in Round Three

“We're going down there to win and make sure we're creating momentum but it's a chance to rotate a couple of players like we would any week and take the opportunity.

“We'll finish second on the ladder and host the semi-final but we've picked a side to go down there and beat Melbourne. We know what threats Melbourne will possess. They'll be hard on the ball, they've got a world class winger and a good ten.” ■