Western Force undaunted as Brumbies show chinks in armour

There has been just a whiff of vulnerability about the Brumbies side in their two Super Rugby AU matches to date.

Jack McGregor scores a try for the Western Force in their plucky loss to the Queensland Reds last weekend. Picture: Getty Images

There has been just a whiff of vulnerability about the Brumbies side in their two Super Rugby AU matches to date, which perhaps explains why Western Force veteran prop Kieran Longbottom described his side as “super-pumped’ for their meeting on Saturday night at Leichhardt Oval.

The Brumbies came through with scrambling wins in both those matches, against the Rebels and Waratahs, the victory against the latter last weekend demonstrating how the side has matured in recent years. A few seasons ago they might have faltered at the death and not created the opportunity which replacement halfback Issak Fines seized for an unconvincing 24-23 victory.

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By contrast, the Force are none from two in this Australia-only competition but that, too, is slightly misleading.

After a bye in the opening round, the WA side then exceeded expectation in their games against the two heartland states, NSW and Queensland, and a graph of their performances would have them tracking encouragingly upwards.

They were the dominant side in the first half against the Tahs but then fell away, and while they led the Reds only for the first quarter of the match at Suncorp, they improved on their performance at the SCG by being highly competitive throughout.

Significantly, the Force gave the Queensland scrum more trouble than it has experienced in any of its nine matches this season, with young loosehead Angus Wagner – a former Brumbies squad member – earning special praise from coach Tim Sampson for his efforts against Reds strongman Taniela Tupou.

So it was not entirely surprising that Longbottom was undaunted by the fact that the Brumbies will field the entire Wallabies Test front-row against them, Allan Alaalatoa, Folau Fainga’a and Scott Sio, despite the 112 Test difference in experience they enjoy over himself, hooker Feleti Kaitu’u and Wagner.

As for the Canberra lineout which misfired badly against the Waratahs, there is evidence to suggest that the Force, captained for the first time in Super Rugby by former All Blacks lock Jeremy Thrush, could trouble them.

Veteran hooker Heath Tessman was on the phone from Perth immediately after the Waratahs game, alerting them that their lineout calls had come through over the television microphones, enabling the Reds to effectively break their codes if they so desired.

That caused something of a flap before the Queensland game but the two sides broke even in the sideline set pieces, demonstrating yet again that the Force can think on the run.

“Our lineout is sharp … our scrum, we take confidence from that, our backline is electric, the way we play is quick. We have all the ingredients we need to be able to do a job on these guys,” Longbottom, the only locally produced player to come through the Force system, said confidently.

The Brumbies have called Nick Frost into the second-row for his starting debut in place of Darcy Swain while Solomone Kata comes into the wing to see if explosive power and speed can achieve more out wide than Andy Muirhead’s high workrate. Yet there is no doubt that all eyes will be on the five-eighth position where Bayley Kuenzle will make his first appearance in the senior run-on side.

Kuenzle performed impressively against the Tahs when he came on for the injured Noah Lolesio but this is surely the moment the 22-year-old Junior Wallaby has been waiting for since he joined the Brumbies from Southern Districts in the Shute Shield two years ago.

Opposing him will be the 30-year-old Jono Lance who is doing his level best to rise above the “journeyman” tag so often applied to him.

He is a two-times Super Rugby title winner, once for Queensland, once for the NSW, and while Dave Rennie has a formidable list of candidates queuing up for the Wallabies No.10 jumper, somehow Lance just keeps stubbornly putting his hand up for the job.

Even though he entrusted the playmaking duties to Lolesio at the start of the season, Brumbies coach Dan McKellar has faith in Kuenzle, giving him the same advice this week as he has given to Lolesio all season – just concentrate on doing your own job.

“He’s just got to play his role and not think that he has to do anything else,” McKellar said.