TALIAULI CALLED UP TO REPLACE SPEIGHT #Brumbies

Jun 25 • General News, Super Rugby • 2674 Views • Comments Off on TALIAULI CALLED UP TO REPLACE SPEIGHT #Brumbies

Stephen Larkham has named his side to take on the Hurricanes in this weekend’s Super Rugby Semi-Final in Wellington.

There is only one change from the team that defeated the Stormers 39-19 in Cape Town last Saturday.

With Henry Speight ruled out through suspension earlier this week, Larkham has named Lausii Taliauli to start on the wing.

Taliauli is a former Australian Sevens player and appeared in the NRL’s National Youth Competition with the Gold Coast Titans. He debuted with the Brumbies this season, and has scored one Super Rugby try from six appearances.

“Lausii is a good young player. With Henry ruled out we think he’s the right man for the job,” Larkham said.

There arw no other changes named from the side that ran in six tries against the Stormers.

The match will be close to a sellout at Westpac Stadium with almost 30,000 tickets already sold, including a strong a contingent of Brumbies fans travelling to Wellington for the match.

The match will also be Scott Sio’s 50th for the club.

Sio made his Super Rugby debut in 2012 and at just 23 has already earned five Wallabies caps. The powerhouse prop is concentrating on helping his side to victory against the table-topping Hurricanes.

“You look at guys like (James) Broadhurst, Ardie Savea, Ben Franks … they’ve all had stellar seasons,” Sio said.

“They’re all working for each other at the moment, which is the biggest thing we’ve noticed.”

The side departed for Wellington on Thursday afternoon and will hold a captain’s run at Westpac Stadium on Friday ahead of Saturday’s match.

The Brumbies have a good record against the Hurricanes, winning the last four matches between the sides.

The Hurricanes have lost five of six Super Rugby Semi-Finals, with four of those defeats coming by margins greater than 10 points. In contrast, the Brumbies have won six of eight appearances at this stage.

Brumbies XV

1. Scott Sio
2. Stephen Moore (c)
3. Ben Alexander
4. Rory Arnold
5. Blake Enever
6. Scott Fardy
7. David Pocock
8. Ita Vaea
9. Nic White
10. Christian Lealiifano
11. Joe Tomane
12. Matt Toomua
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Lausii Taliauli
15. Jesse Mogg

Replacements

16. Josh Mann-Rea
17. Allan Alaalatoa
18. Ruan Smith
19. Jordan Smiler
20. Jarrad Butler
21. Michael Dowsett
22. Nigel Ah Wong
23. Robbie Coleman

Courtesy of SANZAR