Ita Vaea
Ita Vaea will complete a remarkable and dramatic comeback from a serious heart condition to start for the Brumbies for the first time since 2012.
Jarrad Butler moves to openside flank this Friday when the Brumbies travel to New Zealand’s north island to face the Chiefs.
A syndesmosis injury to David Pocock forced the change, with Vaea featuring at No 8 and in the starting side for the first time in 2 years.
The last time Vaea started for the Brumbies was under Jake White in 2012 and the Tongan powerhouse hasn’t featured at the back of the scrum since 2011.
Vaea has battled a serious heart condition for more than 2 years, with last week’s 30-minute effort against the Reds his 1st Super Rugby time since coming from the bench to beat the Waratahs in Sydney back in Round 15 of 2012.
Vaea’s elevation to the starting side brings Sean Doyle onto the bench.
The selection marks Doyle’s first crack at a match-day 23 in Australia having plied his trade with Ulster in Ireland for the last 3 years.
The rest of the team remains unchanged after last week’s decimation of the Reds in Canberra.
Coach Stephen Larkham said his side would face a much tougher opposition this week in New Plymouth.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome Ita Vaea back to the starting side for the first time in 2 years,” Larkham said.
“In my time in rugby this has been one of the great fight-back stories, right up there with Julian Huxley, and I’m pleased for Ita that he’s been able to make a full return to the starting side,” Larkham said.
“There’s no doubt we’ll miss David Pocock, but as the Brumbies Player’s Player in 2014 Jarrad Butler was outstanding and I’m excited to see him back in the No 7 jersey. It’s also a big occasion for Sean Doyle who’s likely to get a bit of time for us off the bench to make his Brumbies debut.
“We’ve had some epic battles with the Chiefs over the last couple of years and this rivalry has started to develop into a similar contest as what we faced with the Crusaders during my playing days.
“Every time we play the Chiefs it’s an exciting build up. The last 2 years we’ve seen them in a Final, a Qualifier and then again on ANZAC Day so there is certainly a sense of occasion around this game.
“It’s been tough for the travelling team to get an edge in these fixtures, we haven’t beaten the Chiefs in New Zealand since 2007. But both the 2012 and 2013 games went right to the wire and really could have gone our way.”
With Stephen Moore again starting from the bench, the captaincy falls to scrumhalf Nic White.
Since 2005 the home side has only gone down twice in this fixture, the Chiefs in 2007 and the Brumbies in 2008.
The match will be the first time the Brumbies have travelled to New Plymouth, having previously played this fixture in Hamilton, Mt Maunganui, Rotorua and Whangarei.
The Brumbies have named 4 players with links to Waikato – with former Hamilton Boys student Vaea joining NPC players Henry Speight, Jordan Smiler and Christian Lealiifano in New Plymouth.
Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White (Captain), 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Scott Fardy , 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Josh Mann-Rea, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jordan Smiler , 20 Sean Doyle, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 James Dargaville, 23 Lausii Taliauli.
Date: Friday 20 February
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-Off: 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEDT, 06:35 GMT)
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Shane McDermott (New Zealand), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: Glen Newman (New Zealand)
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