Waratahs and Brumbies playing for more than Super Rugby finals positions
THERE’S already plenty at stake when the Waratahs host the Brumbies at Allianz Stadium with both teams eyeing the playoffs but potential Wallabies vacancies will ensure no love will be lost between the old rivals.
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The added lure of nailing down a spot in the Wallabies’ team for next month’s Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand has given the Waratahs and Brumbies even more incentive to show no mercy to each other when they clash at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
What was already shaping up as a crunch match for both team’s playoff aspirations, with the Waratahs eyeing a top-two finish to secure home ground advantage in the first two rounds of the finals, and the Brumbies needing a minor miracle to sneak into the top eight, is now also looming as a pivotal set of head-to-head showdowns between players on the fringe of test selection.
While more than half of positions in the Wallabies starting line-up are pretty much locked in, injuries and the doubts raised by last month’s series loss to Ireland has left a number of spots up for grabs and Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said everyone who has their eyes on a test jersey knows there’s no better time to impress the national selectors than this weekend.
“It’s right there,” Gibson said. “There’s an Australian trial every time two Australian teams play.”
The most pressing position that Wallaby coach Michael Cheika needs to fill before tackling the All Blacks is at outside centre after burly Queenslander Samu Kerevi was ruled out for the foreseeable future after tearing his bicep against the Irish. The Brumbies’ Tevita Kuridrani and NSW’s Curtis Rona are the obvious candidates to partner with Kurtley Beale and will get the chance to prove who the best is when they line up against each other at Allianz.
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“That’s a really interesting match-up for both players,” Gibson said. “And it’s the same across the board. Joe Powell and Nick Phipps, the locking battle, the propping battle, we’ve got all four on show, that’s excellent.”
With Will Genia returning from injury soon, NSW’s Phipps is likely to revert back to his spot on the bench as reserve halfback post on the bench although Brumbies’ No. 9 Powell impressed when he made his test debut last year.
But it’s in the forwards where most of the battles for test places could be influenced this weekend. Rory Arnold has fallen out of favour as Adam Coleman’s second row partner but has been in great form recently and is pressing hard for a recall, while Waratahs’ lock Rob Simmons, who started on the bench in the final test against Ireland, is putting pressure on the Reds’ Izack Rodda.
All four props in Saturday’s match are all right in the mix for test selection, adding extra spice to the set pieces, that will be of critical importance when Australia packs down against the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup opener at ANZ Stadium on August 18.
Scott Sio will start at loose-head for the Brumbies, going directly up against Waratahs’ tight-head Sekope Kepu while NSW’s Tom Robertson and ACT’s Allan Alaalatoa will butt heads on the other side of the scrum.
“A lot’s been made of our lightweight pack all year. We’re not the biggest team, but I feel we’ve competed very well in that area given those limitations,” Gibson said. “There’s no surprise they’ve named a big side, that’s probably an area that they’ll target.
“It should make for a really entertaining game on the weekend with both teams looking to play positive rugby, plenty to play for and an Australian derby with all that history between the two teams.”
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