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Highlanders' 'outstanding' set piece keeping Brumbies on edge

(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

The Brumbies are well-poised for a top-two finish this Super Rugby Pacific season, with their bid to secure hosting rights for a semi-final seeing them welcome the Highlanders to Canberra on Sunday.

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Perhaps buoyed by the first signs of a chink in the ladder-leading Chiefs’ armour after they lost at home to the Queensland Reds on Friday night, the second-ranked Brumbies will look to continue winning ways against a Highlanders side that have lost four straight games.

After facing the Dunedin-based side, they close the regular season against the Western Force (eighth), Chiefs (first) and Melbourne Rebels (10th) with all games in Australia.

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They’ll need no reminder of the importance of a home game in the final four, beaten 20-19 by the Blues in last year’s semi-final at Eden Park in Auckland.

But ahead of a match they’ll enter as warm favourites, Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham denied they’d turned their mind to the bigger picture of the post-season.

“We haven’t spoken about that, and we’re not going to speak about that in a team environment,” he said.

“We’re very much focused on the week-to-week … you can get carried away with where you are on the ladder and where you can potentially end up, and lose sight of what’s most important.

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“Really good training … concentration in the meeting space, making sure we’re really aligned on the weekend, and putting a good performance in on the weekend.”

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Their line-up is well settled and they’ve only tinkered around the edges, Ollie Sapsford’s inclusion at centre in place of Tamati Tua the only change to the run-on side while former Wallaby Connal McInerney is on the bench for his first appearance since round five.

Larkham said the Highlanders’ record – they’re just 3-7 this season and rank 11th – was deceptive of just how good a side they can be.

“Like any New Zealand team, they’ve got some pretty devastating ball carriers… they’re dangerous around the halves and have a few trick plays through the middle of the ruck,” he said.

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“Their set piece is outstanding, probably one of the best New Zealand teams in terms of their scrum, so we’ve got to be wary of that.

“We certainly know where they are on the ladder is not indicative of how good this team is.”

The hosts should expect a fired-up Highlanders side given they’re only one win outside the top eight in their own finals push.

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Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus' Boks selection policy is becoming bizarre

To be fair, the only thing that drives engagement on this site is over the top critiques of Southern Hemisphere teams.


Or articles about people on podcasts criticizing southern hemisphere teams.


Articles regarding the Northern Hemisphere tend to be more positive than critical. I guess to also rile up kiwis and Saffers who seem to be the majority of followers in the comments section. There seems to be a whole department dedicated to Ireland’s world ranking news.


Despite being dialled into the Northern edition - I know sweet fokall about what’s going on in France.


And even less than fokall about what’s cutting in Japan - which has a fast growing, increasingly premium League competition emerging.


And let’s not talk about the pacific. Do they even play rugby Down there.


Oh and the Americas. I’ve read more articles about a young, stargazing Welshman’s foray into NFL than I have anything related to either the north and south continents of the Americas.


I will give credit that the women’s game is getting decent airtime. But for the rest and the above; it’s just pathetic coming from a World Rugby website.


Just consider the innovation emerging in Japan with the pedigree of coaches over there.


There’s so much good we could be reading.


Instead it’s unimaginative “critical for the sake of feigning controversial”. Which is lazy, because in order to pull that off all you need to be really good at is:


1. Being a doos;

2. Having an opinion.


No prior experience needed.


Which is not journalism. That’s like all or most of us in the comments section. People like Finn (who I believe is a RP contributor).


Anyway. Hopefully it will get better. The game is growing and the interest in the game is growing. Maybe it will attract more qualified journalists over time.

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