Head Coach Robert du Preez has hardly tinkered with the team named for the crunch match against the Brumbies in our Vodacom Super Rugby tour opener on Saturday.
The players performed in the 50-22 victory – an emphatic one at that – against the Sunwolves at JONSSON KINGS PARK last weekend and they have been rewarded for their showing, with just two changes made for a match that is important for both sides.
The Brumbies opened their campaign with an away victory against the Sunwolves, but have slipped up twice (also away) in their previous two clashes, with this weekend’s match against the Cell C Sharks their first at home this season.
“After reviewing their game against the Rebels, the Brumbies were unlucky not to have scored a few more tries,” the coach explained from the team’s base in Australia. “We know it’s going to be a very tough game in Canberra. They want to get their campaign going and for us it’s really important to have a good start to our tour.”
The Brumbies lost 33-10 to the unbeaten Rebels in Melbourne last weekend and du Preez admitted that they won’t be taking the former champions lightly.
“We shouldn’t be reading too much into that loss, this is a really good Brumbies team with a formidable pack of forwards who like to drive and like to play a lot of rugby, it’s going to be a big, big game on Saturday and we want to get our tour off to a great start.
“We’ve seen a lot of lineout driving from them, they probably play a bit more than they did in the past and they’re not scared to run the ball out of their own 22. If you give them any opportunities or scraps, they will really pounce on that. We are going to have to be on top of our game to make sure we control it the way we want; we need to dominate, that’s where it’s all going to start. We need to bring big physicality, that’s really important for us.”
There is one change apiece to the forwards and backline, Thomas du Toit returning to pack down at tighthead with John-Hubert Meyer shifting to the bench, and out on the wing, sees a rotational change with Kobus van Wyk replacing Sbu Nkosi.
| The Cell C Sharks | Replacements |
| Tendai Mtawarira | Chiliboy Ralepelle |
| Akker van der Merwe | Juan Schoeman |
| Thomas du Toit | John-Hubert Meyer |
| Ruan Botha (Captain) | Tyler Paul |
| Stephan Lewies | Jean-Luc du Preez |
| Wian Vosloo | Cameron Wright |
| Jacques Vermeulen | Marius Louw |
| Tera Mtembu | Lwazi Mvovo |
| Louis Schreuder | |
| Robert du Preez | |
| Makazole Mapimpi | |
| Andre Esterhuizen | |
| Lukhanyo Am | |
| Kobus van Wyk | |
| Curwin Bosch |
The post Tackling the Brumbies appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
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