Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Brumbies aiming for back-to-back wins over Waratahs

Brumbies and Wallabies prop Scott Sio facing a Waratahs onslaught. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images)

The Brumbies say confidence will trump desperation when they face the Waratahs in an Australian Super Rugby derby on Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Brumbies are leading the Australian conference after winning six of their past seven games and can all but secure a home quarter-final by ending NSW’s season at Bankwest Stadium.

It would mark the first time the Brumbies have done the double against their arch-rivals since 2016, after winning the first clash in Canberra in round five.

But Brumbies super-sub hooker Connal McInerney, who scored a hat-trick off the bench against the Sunwolves last week, admitted they were the side struggling when the teams met earlier this season.

“Back in round five we were desperate. We weren’t in great form and the boys were just desperate and wanted to do it for each other. But now I feel like we’ve got a lot more variety in our game,” McInerney said.

“We’re scoring a lot of tries out wide and in tight. They’ve got a lot to target – the variety and balance in our game.

“We’re certainly heading that way (to becoming one of the best teams in the competition). We’re constantly testing ourselves to be better and I think that’s the difference.

ADVERTISEMENT

“It’s a crucial game for them and us …  but I think a confident team (will win) because when you’re desperate not everything goes your way and we can use that as a massive weapon.”

Brumbies halfback Joe Powell believes the turning point in their season came a week after beating the Waratahs, when they were upset by Queensland.

“After we lost to the Reds we went back and looked at our preparation and really tried to nail that. We probably got a bit slack in that area and it’s been a big thing that’s changed,” he said.

“I’m definitely confident we can continue our form this week. Our forwards have been going well all season and our backs are really clicking so it’s good we’ve got two points of attack now.”

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Borthwick, it's time to own up – Andy Goode Borthwick, it's time to own up – Andy Goode
Search