The Brumbies have named an unchanged 22-man squad to take on the Sharks in their 2010 Super 14 Week Five match against the Sharks at Canberra Stadium this Saturday (13 March).
It is the third time since 2000 that the Brumbies have named an , identical line-up (including reserves) for three consecutive matches. The last time the feat occurred was during the first three matches of the 2009 Super 14 season.
The Brumbies have won their past two matches with the current squad, edging out the Stormers 19-17 in Cape Town and defeating the Lions 24-13 last weekend at Canberra Stadium.
The ACT side has used the same 22 players since their Week Two loss to the Bulls, with the promotion of lock Ben Hand in favour of Justin Harrison the only change in four weeks.
The match will mark Patrick Phibbs’ 50th Super Rugby match for the Brumbies having made his debut against the Reds in Brisbane in 2005. Phibbs has played 38 of the past 39 matches for the Brumbies, including the last 31 consecutively.
The Sharks have not won at Canberra Stadium since their 41-23 victory in 1998.
Brumbies Head Coach Andy Friend says naming the same squad does give his side stability.
“It is a luxury to name the same 22 players for four matches in a row,” he said.
“It gives you a chance to build combinations, it gives players confidence and our strength and conditioning and medical staff have done a great job in ensuring we can run out the same guys week in and week out.
“Last week [against the Lions] we were a bit off. I guess part of that could be put down to traveling back from South Africa, part of it could be put down to the wet conditions but these factors are realities of playing in this competition and we need to be better than that.
“The pleasing aspect was that we did create several opportunities that , unfortunately weren’t converted. The intent is definitely there which is fantastic; now we need to improve on transferring those opportunities onto the scoreboard.
“Teams like the Sharks don’t give you too many chances and we need to make sure that we’re converting any chance we get. We’re certainly notreading anything into their position on the table; they’re a side full of Springboks and, as we found out last season, they’re capable of running over the top of you if you give them that chance.”
Brumbies: 1. Ben Alexander , 2. Stephen Moore , 3. Salesi Ma’afu , 4. Ben Hand , 5. Mark Chisholm , 6. Rocky Elsom , 7. George Smith , 8. Stephen Hoiles (c) , 9. Josh Valentine , 10. Matt Giteau , 11. Francis Fainifo , 12. Christian Lealiifano , 13. Stirling Mortlock , 14. Pat McCabe , 15. Adam Ashley-Cooper
Reserves: 16. Huia Edmonds , 17. Guy Shepherdson,18. Justin Harrison , 19. Mitchell Chapman , 20. Patrick Phibbs , 21. Matt Toomua , 22. Tyrone Smith
Ek het verlede week die Tjarks geback…en hulle moes gewen het !!!
Maar ek is bevrees hierdie game is een te ver vir hulle….
Dis omtrent tyd dat Plumtree iets met die twee Dups doen!!!! vir ‘n Dokter is Jannie maar lekker deur die poef!!!!
“Plumtree said he would take action against players who are sin-binned in the future.
“I told the guys that the next player to get a yellow card gets a red card from me. When you are down on your luck, and trying really hard to get out of a hole, you can’t then make it tougher for the team by getting yourself binned. It is just silly and stresses the team unnecessarily.
“This has been creeping into our game now for a while and it has to stop right now. We were always a side that prided itself on discipline both on and off the field.”
Ja nee Tripples…dit wat ou J.duP gedoen het was soos hulle se…” a brain fart ” … 😆
Into week 3
Hi there everyone, Im sitting here in Manly at our hotel and week 3 is upon us. We leave by bus for Canberra tomorrow to play the Brumbies and Im sure you are all aware of how much we need a win. Last weekend was hard for us but so to have been the previous 3 weeks. For me to sit here and write about reasons and excuses for our Waratah loss would be futile, if we want results we need to control our own destiny, keep 15 men on the field and score from opportunities we create. That being said I am happy we made good progress last week and played a game far better suited to the players we have. With this we can grow and return the pride this great franchise deserves.
As hard as the losing is for a team, this one we have has a great group of guys in it who enjoy each others company, even though the so called experts seem to think we have a rift in the camp but I suppose a lack of rugby knowledge would lead to such an assumption! Our coach, Plum, as distressed as any coach would be has been brilliant in his management of the poor start so far and these valuable yet difficult lessons learnt so far will stand him in good stead when the Sharks start to dominate again.
We head out tomorrow and have had a good stay here in Manly over the last 10 days, we split into 4 groups last night for a team dinner outing and by 9-30pm were all in the hotel lobby having a coffee together. Its amazing that of the 4 groups 3 opted for pizza and only 1 group headed for the popular Ribs and Rumps!!! It has to be said that a few of the big boys might have tucked into a second pizza but rest assured I wasn’t one of them!!!
Anyway, Im out of here, we have our off day today and the boys are resting up nicely. We are going to head to the cinema later to try see the Oscar winning Hurtlocker. We saw Blind side a few weeks ago and reckon the Beast needs to go play a little NFL!!! All the best to everyone out there and a big thank you for all the positive support you have given on the site and Twitter, much appreciated
from John Smit website
Halo.
Ek was skaars want my internet was moe toe. Moes vani foon af werk.
Sharkies beter upshake!
Hallo Pilletjie 😆
Seker maar kakkaks om n Shark supporter te is.
Greetings Blouste.
Sharks moes verlede week gewen het…
Ek weet nie wat hul “mental” state gaan wees na daai verloor nie.
Brumbies het nou al weer ‘n week agter die rug in Aus, en behoort meer “settled” te wees.
Basies dieselfde span ook, behoort te werk vir hulle.
Wonder net hoe lyk hul diepte en hoe lank hulle in die kompetisie gaan kan speel met dieselfde span…?
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