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Brumbies coach blasts 'dangerous' early Super Rugby kick-off following Reds victory in sweltering conditions

(Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar has described starting the Super Rugby season in January as “dangerous” and called for change next season.

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The Brumbies and Queensland Reds kicked off their season in 39-degree heat at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

Bushfires were burned within 10km of the city as the players suffered through the oppressive conditions and McKellar stood up for his men.

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The Brumbies prevailed 27-24 before McKellar called on the governing body to prioritise player safety and move the season forward.

“We talk about player welfare, we’ve got big men having to run around and they’re in good condition but I’m hoping round one next year is not anywhere near January 31,” McKellar said.

“You’re limited with your preparation time and it’s dangerous, it really is.”

The ACT has been sporadically blanketed in smoke, depending on winds, for more than two months and the Brumbies had to move their preseason training to Newcastle for 10 days.

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Super Rugby officials created safety guidelines around air quality last week as bushfire smoke continues to linger in Canberra and Melbourne.

Big Bash League, W-League and WNBL matches have all been abandoned in Canberra this summer due to smoke and officials were closely monitoring conditions on Friday.

McKellar described the ongoing disaster as hitting “pretty close to home” with his squad members Ryan and Lachlan Lonergan’s family property impacted.

Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa echoed his coach’s comments and wants the season to kick off later next year.

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“Yeah it was warm and we definitely felt it,” Alaalatoa said.

“We knew it was going to be hot I was just proud of the boys how we dug deep and worked through that.

“Hopefully, it is a bit later next year.”

– AAP

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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?

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