Brumbies change three for Force
Brumbies lock Blake Enever and No. 8 Ita Vaea will both miss the match against the Force after picking up injuries in the 32-15 win over the Waratahs last Friday.
Rory Arnold comes straight back into the starting side for Enever who injured his shoulder in the win over the Waratahs. Arnold played the first match of the 2016 Super Rugby season against the Hurricanes.
Moving into the starting side for the first time this season will be Jarrad Butler who replaces the injured Vaea. Butler played his 50th Super Rugby match last Friday and will start at No.8. Vaea suffered a finger injury against the Waratahs and will miss at least one match.
Butler is a star on the rise in Australia. In 2014 he was named the Brumbies' Brett Robinson medal winner for Players' Player, while last year he was hand-picked by Wallabies coach Michael Cheika to play for the Barbarians in London.
Taking Butler's vacated spot on the replacement bench is Canberra youngster, Tom Staniforth. Former Australian Under-20 and Australian schoolboy representative Staniforth made his Super Rugby debut (and only Super Rugby appearance) in 2014 as an 19-year old against the Queensland Reds. His elevation to the Brumbies matchday 23 comes after strong performances during pre-season trials and a standout 2015 of club rugby with Canberra Royals in the John I Dent Cup, where he received the competition's highest individual honour, the MacDougall Medal.
The Brumbies have won seven of their last eight matches against the Force including a current winning streak of four matches, the longest in the history of this fixture. The last time the two sides met was in Perth, where the Brumbies won 33-20 to seal a spot in the 2015 Super Rugby finals series.
Following the match against the Force on Friday, the Brumbies will head to South Africa for matches against the Stormers in Cape Town (March 19) and the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein (March 26).
The Brumbies next home match will be against the Chiefs on Saturday, April 2.
Brumbies: 15 Aidan Toua, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano (co-captain), 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (co-captain), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Joss Mann-Rea, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Leslie Leulua'iali'i-Makin, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Jordan Smiler, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Andrew Smith, 23 Nigel Ah Wong.
Date: Friday, March 11
Venue: nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 19.05 AWST (22.05 AEDT; 11.05 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Lees (Australia)
Assistant referees: Damien Mitchelmore (Australia), Michael Hogan (Australia)
TMO: Ian Smith (Australia)
