Stephen Larkham has named his side to take on the Hurricanes in this weekend’s Super Rugby Semi-Final in Wellington.
There is only 1 change from the team that defeated the DHL Stormers 39 / 19 in Cape Town last Saturday.
With Henry Speight ruled out through suspension earlier this week, Larkham has named Lausii Taliauli to start on the wing.
Taliauli is a former Australian Sevens player and appeared in the NRL’s National Youth Competition with the Gold Coast Titans. He debuted with the Brumbies this season, and has scored 1 Super Rugby try from 6 appearances.
“Lausii is a good young player. With Henry ruled out we think he’s the right man for the job,” Larkham said.
There are no other changes named from the side that ran in 6 tries against the DHL Stormers.
The match will be close to a sellout at Westpac Stadium with almost 30 000 tickets already sold, including a strong a contingent of Brumbies fans travelling to Wellington for the match.
The match will also be Scott Sio’s 50th for the club.
Sio made his Super Rugby debut in 2012 and at just 23 has already earned 5 Wallaby caps. The powerhouse prop is concentrating on helping his side to victory against the table-topping Hurricanes.
“You look at guys like Broadhurst, Ardie Savea, Ben Franks… they’ve all had stellar seasons,” Sio said.
“They’re all working for each other at the moment, which is the biggest thing we’ve noticed.”
The side departed for Wellington on Thursday afternoon and will hold a captain’s run at Westpac Stadium on Friday ahead of Saturday’s match.
The Brumbies have a good record against the Hurricanes, winning the last 4 matches between the sides.
The Hurricanes have lost 5 of 6 Super Rugby Semi-Finals, with 4 of those defeats coming by margins greater than 10 points. In contrast, the Brumbies have won 6 of 8 appearances at this stage.
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Lausii Taliauli, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nic White, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Blake Enever, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (Captain), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Nigel Ah Wong, 23 Robbie Coleman.
Date: Saturday 27 June
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-Off: 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEST, 07:35 GMT)
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)