Brumbies
Reds (10) 20 / 23 (20) Brumbies (Final Score)
The Reds and Brumbies did battle in Super Rugby at
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane at 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 09:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Tom Staniforth will make his Super Rugby debut at lock when the Brumbies head to Brisbane to turn the tables on the Reds on Friday.
The 19-year-old Australian Under-20 representative has been knocking on the door of Super Rugby for the last 18 months, having trained with the main squad since leaving Canberra Grammar in 2012.
Reds coach Richard Graham has made two changes to his starting team to face the Brumbies in a Super Rugby clash on Friday, the Reds’ official website reports.
Chris Feauai-Sautia returns on the wing for his first start since injuring his hamstring in against the Lions in Johannesburg three weeks ago, replacing Jamie-Jerry Taulagi who moves to the reserves, while Anthony Fainga’a will start at inside centre in place of Mike Harris.
The Brumbies have been boosted by the return of hooker Stephen Moore and loosehead prop Scott Sio for their trip to Brisbane to play the Reds on Friday.
Hopes of the Brumbies handing the Reds their first back-to-back home defeats since 2009 will have been raised with the return of Wallaby internationals Moore and Sio.
It was a disappointing weekend for South Africa’s Vodacom Super Rugby franchises, with the best result among the four teams that took to the field being a 43-43 draw by the Toyota Cheetahs.
The Vodacom Bulls faced the Hurricanes in Napier on Saturday in their first tour game with the hope of becoming the first domestic franchise to win in the Antipodes this season, but penalties conceded at crucial times allowed the hosts to come away with a 25-20 victory.
The Toyota Cheetahs, meanwhile, built up an encouraging 34-10 half-time lead against New Zealand conference leaders and defending champions, the Chiefs, in Bloemfontein, but they allowed the visitors to fight back strongly after the break and had to settle for a 43-43 draw.
At Ellis Park, the Lions produced a competitive first-half performance against the Crusaders to trail only 6-0 after 40 minutes, but the home side battled to shut out the seven time Vodacom Super Rugby champions in the second half, and went down 28-7.
In the last match of the weekend, the DHL Stormers’ woes continued in their first home game after their Australasian tour, as they suffered their fifth back-to-back defeat after going down 22-11 against the Waratahs in a physical encounter at DHL Newlands.
Brumbies (13) 26 / 9 (6) Blues (Final Score)
The Brumbies and Blues did battle in Super Rugby at
Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Canberra Time, 08:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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The Brumbies have made just one change to their starting side with Siliva Siliva given an opportunity in the No 2 jumper for Friday night’s clash with the Blues.
Stephen Moore will miss his first Brumbies game through injury since 2011 after the champion hooker was given a week to recover from a niggling knee concern.
Jerome Kaino is likely to take over the captaincy of the Blues when they travel to Canberra to face the Brumbies on Friday.
The 49-cap All Black is the most likely candidate to lead the team out in the absence of Luke Braid, who is struggling with a shoulder injury.
The Blues have suffered a hit in their second row stocks as veteran Tom Donnelly has been ruled out of Friday’s match against the Brumbies in Canberra with a calf strain.
Donnelly was on the bench for Saturday’s match against the Highlanders but did not get on after straining his calf during the warm up.
Rebels (3) 32 / 24 (10) Brumbies (Final Score)
The Melbourne Rebels and Brumbies did battle in Super Rugby at
AAMI Park, Melbourne at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Melbourne Time, 08:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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The Melbourne Rebels have named their Super Rugby team to play the Brumbies at AAMI Park in Melbourne with Jason Woodward and Nic Stirzaker returning to the starting line up.
Jason Woodward has overcome a bruised knee to return after missing one week and is named to start as fullback, while Tom Kingston will start after a knee injury bought a premature end to Foundation Rebel Lachlan Mitchell’s season.
Tevita Kuridrani is back in the Brumbies starting side this Friday, for their Super Rugby showdown with the Rebels.
The Brumbies have made just one change to their staring side which beat the Stormers last weekend, with Tevita Kuridrani named at outside centre after a week off for a family funeral.
Brumbies inside centre Christian Lealiifano will return from an ankle injury against the Rebels, but doesn’t want the goal kicking duties just yet.
Lealiifano had surgery on his ankle late last year and is now ready to return to action.
The Lions and Vodacom Bulls flew the South African flag in Vodacom Super Rugby this weekend when they scored come-from-behind home victories on Saturday.
The side from Johannesburg scored two late tries to deny the Reds by 23-20 after they were still behind by 20-3 shortly before the break at Ellis Park.
In the process, Lions flyhalf and kicking ace Marnitz Boshoff became the first player this season to reach 100 points when he kicked his second penalty goal in the 40th minute of the match.
In the final match of the weekend, the Cell C Sharks lost their first encounter of 2014 when they went down 23-19 to a determined Vodacom Bulls side at Loftus Versfeld.
The DHL Stormers’ 15-25 Vodacom Super Rugby loss to the Brumbies in Canberra was a bitter pill to swallow for head coach Allister Coetzee on Saturday.
Brumbies (13) 25 / 15 (10) Stormers (Final Score)
The Brumbies and DHL Stormers do battle in Super Rugby at
Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Canberra Time 08:40 GMT).
This is the live match discussion Article.
The match is broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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The Brumbies injury list continues to grow with coach Stephen Larkham ruling out Wallaby prop Scott Sio and lock Leon Power for Saturdays match up with the Stormers.
The Brumbies were left counting the cost of their impressive 28-23 win over the Waratahs in an all-Australian Super Rugby derby at the weekend.
Wing Henry Speight is facing six weeks on the sideline with a fractured jaw and lock Leon Power is also in doubt of being a long-term absenmtee after injuring his knee.
Brumbies (20) 28 / 23 (9) Waratahs (Final Score)
The Brumbies and Waratahs did battle in Super Rugby at
Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Canberra Time, 08:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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The Vodacom Bulls delivered their best performance of the season as the Cell C Sharks kept their grip on the top of the Vodacom Super Rugby table.
The three-time champions from Pretoria scored four tries to one in their impressive victory over the Blues at Loftus Versfeld – their first try-scoring bonus-point of 2014 in a 38-22 win.
The Cell C Sharks’ score over the Lions was similar – 37-23 – and they also got a bonus-point for four tries which, as in the Vodacom Bulls’ case, was scored very late in the match.
The two South African teams currently touring Down Under both lost – the Toyota Cheetahs by 43-33 against the Reds in Brisbane, while the DHL Stormers put in a very spirited performance in Christchurch, but ultimately lost by 14-13 against the Crusaders – their 33rd successive home win over teams from the Republic.
Hurricanes (13) 21 / 29 (15) Brumbies (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Brumbies did battle in Super Rugby at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT, 17:35 AEDT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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The Brumbies have named Leon Power at lock in the team to face the Hurricanes on Friday, as part of a forwards re-shuffle to account for the injury to David Pocock.
Power moves into the position Scott Fardy vacated – he moves from lock to blindside flank.
Wallabies flanker David Pocock will miss the rest of the Super Rugby after undergoing left knee surgery on Wednesday for the second time in a year.
Force (0) 14 / 27 (24) Brumbies (Final Score)
The Western Force and Brumbies did battle in Super Rugby at
NIB Stadium, Perth at 13:00 SA Time (15:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Lock Hugh McMeniman and flanker Chris Alcock have returned to the starting XV for the Force’s clash against the Brumbies at nib Stadium on Saturday night.
McMeniman’s selection in the starting lineup completes his return from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the second half of 2013. McMeniman will pack down alongside Sam Wykes on Saturday.
Robbie Coleman will make his first appearance in 2014 when the Brumbies travel to Perth to take on the Force this Saturday night.
Coleman was one of two changes to the starting side, with just one switch occurring on the bench.
Brumbies (9) 17 / 27 (17) Reds (Final Score)
The Brumbies and Reds did battle in Super Rugby at
Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Canberra Time, 08:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Ulster have signed 26-year-old loosehead prop Ruaidhri Murphy from the Brumbies on a two-year contract.
The Brumbies are expected to name Wallabies centre Tevita Kuridrani in their starting line up for Saturday’s Super Rugby opener against the Reds.
The international centre was sent off lifting flanker Peter O’Mahony in the Wallabies Test victory over Ireland and was banned for five matches.
The Australian and New Zealand teams start Super Rugby a week later than their South African rivals and the Australian teams kick the season off with a match in Canberra between two former Champions, the Brumbies and the Reds.
Here we take a brief look at the Australian teams and what could lie ahead for the Australian Super Rugby franchises.
Big Brumbies loose forward Fotu Auelua has been ruled out for 10-12 weeks with a knee injury that will see him miss eight Super Rugby matches.
The Brumbies are hoping that their 67 / 0 Super Rugby warm up victory over an ACT XV at Viking Park has not come at a price after they picked up several injuries.
The scoreline of the brutal match shows how convincing the victory was but David Pocock had to have attention to his bleeding eye, flying winger Henry Speight bruised his ribs and No 8 Fotu Auelua picked up a knee injury.
The Brumbies had 11 internationals in their line up as they want to be as ready as they can be for their Super Rugby season opener against the Reds at Canberra Stadium on 22 February.
It could not have been a worse start to the year for the Brumbies – losing their opening trial match and seeing star back Pat McCabe go down again.
McCabe, who has already overcome a neck fracture twice, was returning to action when he suffered a head knock as the Brumbies were overrun 15-11 by the Highlanders in a trial match in Queenstown on Friday.
David Pocock will make his return from injury when he leads the Brumbies in their pre-season clash with the Highlanders in Queenstown this weekend.
Highlanders’ head coach, Jamie Joseph, has named an inexperienced starting XV to play the Brumbies at Queenstown Recreation Ground on Friday.
Seven players in the starting XV will pull on the Highlanders jersey for the first time, namely; Craig Millar, Gareth Evans, Lee Allan, Tom Franklin, Richard Buckman, Winston Stanley and Patrick Osborne.