Melbourne Rebels insist ACT Brumbies’ precise kicking won’t pin them down

MELBOURNE Rebels will strive to counter the ACT Brumbies’ precise kicking when they clash at AAMI Park on Friday night.

Melbourne Rebels training at Visy Park, Dom Shipperley during a training drill. Melbourne. 11th February 2015. Picture: Colleen Petch.

MELBOURNE Rebels will strive to counter the ACT Brumbies’ precise kicking when they clash at AAMI Park on Friday night.

Pitted against an outfit ­renowned for its ability to play in opposition territory, the Rebels are wary about spending too much time on the wrong side of halfway.

Winger Dom Shipperley said the Rebels had focused on strategies to avoid being ­marooned in their own half as they look to rebound from a 38-28 loss to NSW.

“Exiting our half could have been a little bit better (against NSW), which is something we’ve worked on this week,” he said. “Hopefully we can ­execute that better this week.

“(To be) 28-all with 10 minutes left, we were right in the mix (against the Waratahs). So we were just off.

“We could have closed out the game a bit better. We turned over the ball a couple of times at halfway and gave them a penalty, let them back into our half.

“Eliminating penalties this year has been a big thing for us, especially from last year — I think we were the most penalised team in Super Rugby.

“It’s something we’ve worked on and it’s paying off. We still do get penalised a bit but it’s better than last year.”

Mike Harris takes a high ball.

Coach Tony McGahan has hailed his forward pack as Nic Stirzaker was rushed back to face the Brumbies.

Scrumhalf Stirzaker replaces Wallaby Luke Burgess, who moves to the bench.

McGahan praised the work of his forwards after they eclipsed the Waratahs pack.

“I thought that our forward pack performed very well and showed great physicality against the Waratahs,” he said.

McGahan said he was looking forward to the contest.

“You’re always in for a big challenge when you play against the Brumbies,” he said.

“They’re the most successful Australian Super Rugby franchise ever, and are a formidable opponent who have ­impressed so far again this season. We have a lot of time for their senior playing group and the way they get on with their business on the field.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to again test ourselves against one of the competition benchmarks, and show we are continuing to move forward in the right direction following very tough opening games against the Crusaders and Waratahs.”

Second rower Luke Jones will make his 50th Super Rugby appearance tomorrow.