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Brumbies' youth movement continues with scrum-half signing

Reesjan Pasitoa was wanted by a number of Super Rugby franchises. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Brumbies head coach Dan McKellar said earlier this year that he would back the young players at the franchise to replace the departing Christian Lealiifano, who will be heading to Japan to play for NTT Communications Shining Arcs after the Rugby World Cup.

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The side already had Mack Hansen, Bayley Kuenzle and Noah Lolesio on the roster with all three capable of playing at fly-half, although Hansen can also operate at full-back and Lolesio has played much of his recent rugby at inside centre. The Brumbies added to their stocks by securing the signing of much-coveted schoolboy fly-half Reesjan Pasitoa from Nudgee College.

The youth movement has not been limited to the number 10 jersey, either, with Nick Frost having been snapped up from the Crusaders’ development pathway. The Australian lock had an impressive season with the Junior Wallabies and will help make up for the losses of Rory Arnold and Sam Carter to France and Ireland respectively.

The latest addition comes in the form of Lachlan Albert, a schoolboy scrum-half who played alongside Pasitoa for the Australian Schools team last year and who is set to graduate from Riverview College this year.

Albert has signed a three-year contract with the Brumbies and will compete with Joe Powell, Ryan Lonergan and Matt Lucas for a spot in the franchise’s 2020 Super Rugby squad. Although game time may be limited initially, McKellar will be hoping that Albert and Pasitoa can rekindle their chemistry from the Australian Schools team and help form the long-term spine of the Canberra side.

“I’m so excited by the prospect of moving to Canberra to join the Brumbies,” Albert said of his signing. “It has been a dream of mine to be given an opportunity like this and it’s humbling to know that the Brumbies are supporting me in working towards becoming the best player I can be.

“After watching the Brumbies campaign this year and becoming familiar with the positive environment they have created, it clearly speaks for itself, and I am beyond excited that I get to grow as a rugby player and a person with them.”

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Brumbies General Manager, Professional Rugby & Pathways, Chris Tindall welcomed Albert joining the Brumbies. “Our coaches were very impressed by Lachlan both in his playing ability potential and his character in his desire to learn and drive to work hard to be the best he can be.

“We are pleased to have Lachlan join our Brumbies Academy Development Programme to work with him, along with our local Academy players, to help them develop towards playing Super Rugby with the Brumbies and for the Wallabies.”

The Brumbies will also have standout Australia U20 hooker Lachlan Lonergan on their roster next season, with the post-Rugby World Cup exodus of players set to create plenty of opportunities for youngsters at the franchise, who topped the Australian conference last season and have made the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons.

Watch: RugbyPass exclusive – ‘Nadolo’

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Flankly 2 hours 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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