BRUMBIES, FIJIAN DRUA AND WESTERN FORCE

Get to know the five Australian teams and newcomers Fijian Drua.

Last year: Sixth Head coach: Dan McKellor Captain: Allan Alaalatoa

Home ground:

GIO Stadium, Canberra Website: www.brumbies.rugby Tickets: ticketek.co.au TAB odds: $15.00

The BRUMBIES look the strongest of the Australian teams after showing plenty of resilience and skill in last year’s campaign. Their early narrow loss to the Crusaders and victory over the Hurricanes showed just how competitive they can be. But the lack of consistency hurt the Brumbies as thumping defeats at the hands of the Chiefs and Blues followed. The Brumbies have 26 players back from last season and new signings in No 8 Ed Kennedy, midfielders Chris Feauai-Sautia, Ollie Sapsford and Hudson Creighton, and former sevens star Cam Clark will all add depth to the squad. Much may well depend on talented first-five Noah Lolosio whose form and confidence dropped alarmingly during last year’s Bledisloe Cup tests. At his best, he is undoubtedly a classy performer. This campaign is the last for head coach Dan McKellor before he leaves to take over as the forwards coach for the Wallabies later in the year. He is confident the Brumbies can make a real impact in the new Super Rugby Pacific competition. “We’re in a really good place with our squad, heading into an exciting year for us at the Brumbies. I think if you look at the amount of guys in that group who are in and around the Wallabies environment already, a lot of them still have room to grow, which is exciting. “We have a number of experienced test players and young internationals, coupled with some guys in their second or third year at Super Rugby level, which gives us confidence we have what it takes to compete with the best. “We’ve also brought in some experienced players who are known to the Brumbies who will compete and add to our depth. It’s a really exciting year with the introduction of Super Rugby Pacific and if we put in the work, and take our opportunity in preseason to get better, we’ll put ourselves in a position to make it a memorable year.”

Head coach: Mick Byrne Captain: Nemani Nagusa

Home grounds:

AAMI Park, Melbourne; ANZ Stadium, Suva Website: www.fijirugby.com Tickets: ticketek.com.au TAB odds: $151.00

Last year: Eighth Head coach: Tim Sampson Captain: Ian Prior Home ground: HBF Park, Perth Website: westernforce.rugby

Tickets:

www.ticketmaster.com.au TAB odds: $51.00

The FIJIAN DRUA step up from playing in the Australian National Rugby Championship since 2017 to a place in the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific competition. An early injury crisis at first-five has meant 32-year-old New Zealander Baden Kerr becomes the first player not eligible to play for Fiji selected in the squad. Fijian Drua head coach Mick Byrne, who was the All Blacks skills coach during their 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup wins, says Kerr ticked all the boxes for what the team needs. “Just like our fans, we want our game-plan based around fast, powerful and adventurous plays. We need a flyhalf with experience at this level to keep our pack moving forward with tactical kicking and unleash our backline at every opportunity. Baden has the right set of skills to meet this requirement. “It’s exciting for us to have him in our Drua squad to reinforce that crucial playmaker position. He brings

WESTERN FORCE coach Tim Sampson is confident he has the squad to challenge the more favoured teams in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. There was plenty to like about his team’s performance last year. They went all the way to the final of Super Rugby AU, which they lost to the Reds, and were a conversion away from beating the Chiefs in their first Trans-Tasman game of the season. Narrow defeats to the Crusaders, Blues and Highlanders showed they can compete with the best of the Kiwi sides. “Excitement is building around where this squad can go. The whole club is in a stronger place than 12 months ago. It’s been a pretty impressive pre-season,” says Sampson. “We have progressed from conditioning to getting content into players, nailing our playbook, giving everyone clarity on the playbook in attack and defence. The guys are competing at every session and they understand there’s a good fight on for positions. It’s good to see how they have evolved. “Individually, there has been a lot of growth physically. There has also been a big focus on power and speed and we have seen a lot of growth there, as well. We have honed in on the core skills, the finer details of skills, the breakdown, collision and tackle areas. We are in a pretty good spot.” The signing of impressive Wallabies lock Izack Rodda is a major boost to the Force. He will add strength to a powerful pack alongside Wallabies Sitaleki Timani, Tom Robertson and Feleti Kaitu’u, as well as Argentina’s Santiago Medrano. New Zealand coaches Mark Ozich and Paul Tito are Sampson’s assistant coaches. Ozich had a successful Ranfurly Shield reign with Hawke’s Bay while Tito had a fine playing career with the Ma ori All Blacks, Hurricanes, Chiefs and Cardiff Blues.

valuable top-level experience into our squad having played in Super Rugby, the English Premiership, New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship and Japan. “Baden’s experience will also be excellent mentorship for other flyhalf options Napolioni Bolaca, Tuidraki Samusamuvodre and Kitione Taliga.” The players vying for the No 10 jersey will not have far to look for support in assistant coach Glen Jackson. Before becoming an international referee in 2010 he played 60 games for the Chiefs and 159 games for Saracens in the English Premiership. Jackson is looking forward to the challenge ahead. “Playing against Tier 1 nations consistently, as well as getting exposure to Super Rugby, is going to be a huge thing for our development. We have the talent, we have the players, but we need them to be put in positions where they understand situations on and off the field consistently. That’s part of my job,” he says.