Kimlin to bolster Brumbies pack

 

Kimlin will wear the No.6 jersey, with Ben Mowen moving back to No.8 and Fotu Auelua out of the 22-man squad.

 

Claiming Kimlin's bench spot is lock Leon Power, who has turned in a series of impressive performances for Queanbeyan over the last two weekends. 

 

Head coach Jake White said Kimlin had earned his start as the coaching staff continue their rotation policy with the Brumbies forwards. 

 

"Kimo adds a little bit more as far as experience and height at the line-out are concerned, and he's been the No.1 blindside flank, so Benny Mowen moves back to the back of the scrum and we will work from there," White said. 

 

"Benny (Mowen), Hoops (Michael Hooper) and Kimo have worked well for us in that combination as loose forwards in the past. Our defensive and attacking line-out will both benefit with Kimlin there as another option.

 

"It's not all about disrupting their ball, we have to be able to protect our ball so that's another area where Peter will come in handy. He's played 50 Super Rugby matches for the Brumbies and played for the Wallabies so Peter's experience is a big bonus for us.

 

"We're treating it exactly like a final. There's a lot at stake – we can move another four points ahead and they have the bye next week. It is massive – we want to have a good crack to finish as high as we can

 

"If you want to play in the finals you have to be able to beat the Reds at home."

 

The Brumbies scrumhalves will also rotate for Saturday's match with Ian Prior moving to the bench and Nic White back into the starting side.

 

The Brumbies backline has been responsible for scoring a stack of tries during the last month and a half of rugby and other than the switch at scrumhalf, remains the same for Saturday’s clash. The match at Canberra Stadium shapes as the most important of the season for both sides, with the winner handed a golden chance to claim top spot of the Australian Conference.

 

The Reds currently sit eight points adrift of the Brumbies, but with a bye next weekend, a win in the ACT would be worth eight points for the Queenslanders. 

 

Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (captain), 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.

Replacements: 16 Anthony Hegarty, 17 Ruaidhri Murphy, 18 Leon Power, 19 Ita Vaea, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Robbie Coleman, 22 Tevita Kuridrani.

 

Date: Saturday, May 26

Venue: Canberra Stadium, Canberra

Kick-off: 19.40 (09.40 GMT)

Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia) 

Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Lees (Australia)

TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)