Wallabies selection trial as Brumbies host NSW Waratahs in heated Super Rugby derby
THE Brumbies host the Waratahs in what looms as a heated local derby in Canberra on Saturday night. Take a look at the key matchups here!
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IT’S round five and the Super Rugby season is in full swing. Forget about the NSW-Queensland clash a couple of weeks ago, this is the first big Australian derby of the season with both teams in good form and with enough games under their belt to give an indication of how they’re travelling in 2014.
It also shapes as a mini Wallabies selection trial, with so many players going head to head on the field on Saturday night also battling for Test jumpers for later in the year.
We look at some of the key match-ups for the weekend’s clash and what Wallabies ramifications may be drawn in the wash-up.
Matt Toomua v Bernard Foley
Quade Cooper wore the Wallabies No.10 jersey throughout the spring tour but these two players are both breathing down his neck after hot starts to 2014.
Toomua was shaded by Cooper in the Brumbies’ loss to the Reds but has since bounced back with telling performances in wins over the Force and Hurricanes.
He wore the No.12 jersey for the Wallabies outside Cooper but it’s at fly half that Toomua is most comfortable, and he’ll want to show his credentials by directing the Brumbies to a win over their fierce rivals.
Foley has already won one battle for a No.10 jersey this year, edging out Kurtley Beale to be the Waratahs chief playmaker and he’s barely put a foot wrong in big wins over the Force and Rebels.
If he can manufacture more space for the Tahs’ attacking weapons in what’s expected to be a tighter encounter against the Brumbies, the versatile Foley – who can also cover fullback - will do his prospects of adding to his four Test caps no harm.
Pat McCabe v Kurtley Beale
At different stages in the past 12 months – as recently as little more than a week ago for McCabe – these two players must have seriously wondered about their international futures.
But blockbusting starts to the 2014 campaign have surely put both front and centre when it comes to Wallabies calculations, although their styles at inside centre – where they will face off on Saturday night – couldn’t be more different.
One-time Wallaby fly half Beale has thrived since returning to the Waratahs, scheming outside Bernard Foley as a New Zealand-style No.12.
McCabe was only 10 days ago waiting for word on whether he had broken his neck for a third time. He hadn’t, and just days later he ripped the Hurricanes apart for the Brumbies with his dynamic charges through the midfield channel that reaped 134m from 11 carries.
McCabe’s hard running will provide a stern test for Beale’s tackling abilities, while the Tah will look to interchange with Foley at first and second receiver to pose questions of his own for the Brumbies defence with his quality passing game, and ability to take on the line and offload.
Jesse Mogg v Israel Folau
Okay, so as far as Wallabies “trials” go this is a mismatch. That’s meant as no disrespect to Mogg, who has been in fine form for the Brumbies over the past two weeks, but if Folau is fit he will be wearing the No.15 jersey for Australia. No questions.
The former NRL star has picked up where he left off last year to start 2014 in stunning style, racing in five tries in his opening two matches.
Mogg, meanwhile, has put behind him an opening round shocker against the Reds to rediscover the kind of form that won him his first Wallaby cap – against the British and Irish Lions last year.
He’s scored a try in all three games for the Brumbies this year and also leads his side for linebreaks (4), offloads (5) and tackle busts (11).
Nic White v Nick Phipps
Understudy. It’s a dirty word in the acting game and if you ask Chris Whittaker, it’s even worse as a halfback.
Sitting on the bench week after week, holding out for the six or seven token minutes that fall your way when a game is dead and buried. Not much of a life, is it?
In years gone by that would be what the two Nic(k)s are playing for this weekend. But after Ewen McKenzie showed he was prepared to drop Will Genia last year and with all four contenders – Luke Burgess being the other - for the Test role offering something different, this match-up takes on extra significance.
Brumbies halfback White was the one to replace Genia last year with McKenzie preferring his kicking game and breakdown sniping for clashes with Argentina and South Africa. Those assets will be crucial to his side’s chances this weekend, particularly if the Brumbies can disrupt the Waratahs’ attacking flow.
Phipps, meanwhile, prides his game on speed of delivery and support play – which are perfectly suited to coach Michael Cheika’s vision for the side. If the Waratahs pack can get on top, then Phipps crisp, sharp service will create a lot of problems for a backpedalling Brumbies defence.
Stephen Moore v Tatafu Polota-Nau
They’ve been battling for the Wallabies No.2 jersey for the best part of the last 10 years but after a succession of injuries to Polota-Nau, Moore has established himself as Australia’s premier hooker.
One of the Wallabies most consistent performers from a mixed few seasons, Moore has been a tireless contributor up front whose skills extend well beyond the realms of the set piece. In fact, the Brumbies veteran played a key part in a number of the Wallabies’ finest five-pointers in 2013 as he roamed a little wider in attack.
Rumoured to be in the sights of Waratahs players suspended on last year’s spring tour, Moore is unlikely to let the pre-match scuttlebutt affect his usual high standards.
Polota-Nau, meanwhile, is simply trying to string an extended run of games together. His 2013 season was ruined by injury with some suggesting it was time he altered his kamikaze defensive style.
Early signs this year suggest those instructions have fallen on deaf ears while Saturday night’s local derby will only see his unwavering desire for brutal contact increase.
Always a little suspect at lineout time, Polota-Nau needs to start finding the target consistently if he’s to challenge Moore for the Wallabies starting role.
Tevita Kuridrani v Adam Ashley-Cooper
Perhaps the most exciting match-up this weekend, Kuridrani and Ashley-Cooper lock heads at outside centre as two clear contenders for the Wallabies No.13 jersey.
Veteran Ashley-Cooper has long filled a utility role at the Wallabies but has stated a clear desire to play outside centre at both the Waratahs and Wallabies. The 29-year-old Test star was at his best against the Reds a fortnight ago, making two linebreaks and two tackle busts as he ran for 67 metres.
Kuridrani burst onto the Test scene in last year’s final Bledisloe Cup encounter in Dunedin, scoring a try in as part of a new-look centre combination with Brumbies teammates Matt Toomua.
But just a few weeks later he quickly learned the highs and lows of Test as he was suspended for a spear tackle in the Wallabies’ victory over Ireland.
Kuridrani made a fine return to the Brumbies starting line-up against the Force and then followed that up with another strong showing alongside Pat McCabe last week.
Both men are hard-running, tackle-shredding centres at their best yet the extent to which their involvement extends will largely depend on those inside them.
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