DURING the four-week Super Rugby break in June, instead of freshening up, the Brumbies started another pre-season. But despite displaying some sluggish side-effects over the past two weeks, Captain Ben Mowen is confident the heavy conditioning will give his underrated side the legs and mental clarity under fatigue to take out their first title since 2004. Destiny remains in the Brumbies hands after they outlasted NSW 19-15 on Saturday night and, if they beat the Blues in Canberra this weekend, they’ll claim the Australian conference and a home final.
“There was a huge loading through that period and a lot of the guys said they thought the nightmares of pre-season had come back to get them,” said Mowen.”We picked up a bit of fatigue out of that and that’s just the way it is. You have to pay a toll to work that hard but I think it’s going to pay dividends at the end of the year.
If the Bulls fall to an upset loss or fail to win with a bonus point against the Lions in Pretoria, or if the Sharks suffer the same fate against the Cheetahs in Durban – then the door is open for the Reds if they get maximum points against the battling Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium.
The Blues ran over the top of the Force 32-9 in Auckland, while the Rebels fell just short of a breakthrough win in South Africa, losing 37-32 to the Lions in Johannesburg.The Chiefs and Stormers have already wrapped up top spot in the respective New Zealand and South African conferences.NSW coach Michael Foley says his side weren’t satisfied with another close loss and would need to address the problem in the off-season.
[ Source: Australian Times ]