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Brumbies under no illusions as they prepare for back-to-back Kiwi clashes

(Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar says “honest reviews” will keep his side grounded ahead of their litmus test against the Highlanders next week.

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The Brumbies have enjoyed a dream start to the Super Rugby season with two straight wins despite five Wallabies and 170 Test caps departing in the off-season.

They’ve won back-to-back Australian derbies against Queensland and the Melbourne Rebels but now face the Highlanders in round three.

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McKellar knows his men know they aren’t world beaters yet but backed them to improve again as they chase 11 straight home wins next Saturday.

“You review honestly,” McKellar said when asked how to keep a lid on things.

“The boys are smart footballers, they understand there were some things to like about last week but we knew we could be a whole lot better and it will be exactly the same this week.

“We won’t be getting too far ahead of ourselves. The Highlanders were beaten (on Friday) – the Sharks have done us no favours there.

“New Zealand teams are always quality, they lose players and replace them with players we’ve never heard of, they’ve got great athletes over there.”

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Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalotoa said New Zealand teams “play fast” and McKellar believes adapting in the key moments will prove the difference.

“Turnovers are critical against New Zealand sides,” McKellar said.

“The Highlanders have always been dangerous off turnover ball and the Chiefs (the following week) will be no different.

“That’s always a focus against New Zealand teams.

“They’re well coached the Highlanders, I’m sure they will be ready to bounce back and put in a good performance.

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“But we need to enjoy the momentum we’re building and know (we’re) watching some exciting young talent that are the future of this club and Australian rugby.”

– 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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