Brumbies wary of battling Blues

They’re winless and coming stone last, but the Brumbies know there’s good reason to be wary of the Blues in Friday night’s Super Rugby clash.

For starters it’s the Blues’ first match this season at their true home ground, Eden Park, after it was used for the cricket World Cup.

And then there are the telling stats.

Sir John Kirwan’s Blues may be 0 and 7 for the season but they hold the most bonus points in the competition, courtesy of losing five matches by seven points or less.

Their biggest defeat was their fighting 12-point loss to defending champions NSW Waratahs in Sydney in round seven.

The Australian conference-leading Brumbies (5-2) last in their earlier foray across the Tasman, falling to the Chiefs in Hamilton in round two.

Brumbies prop Scott Sio is more focussed on the Blues’ talented line up – an All Blacks-stacked pack in front of a gifted but raw backline which has made too many errors.

“If you look at them from 1 to 15 individually, they’re such a great team,” Sio said.

“It’s going to be a collective effort; they’ve got so much strike power in (No.8) Jerome Kaino, (Flanker) Steven Luatua, and Charles Piutau and Frank Halai out wide too.

For the five-Test Wallaby, the Blues clash also represents a chance for Sio to test himself against All Blacks prop, Charlie Faumuina.

All going well, it won’t be the last time Sio packs down against Faumuina at Eden Park this year.

“He established himself as the All Blacks tighthead toward the backend of the year, and with (Fellow frontrowers) Tony Woodcock and Kevan Mealamu – who’s the most capped Super Rugby player ever – so you can see just through their experience just how tough a task it’s going to be for myself, Benny [Alexander], and ‘Squeak’ [Stephen Moore],” Sio said.

“But we relish these opportunities and we’re looking forward to it.”

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