Injuries might have begun taking a toll on the unbeaten Highlanders, but Brumbies coach Jake White denies it makes the Super Rugby ladder-leaders any less dangerous.
After four consecutive wins, the Highlanders will be without key forwards John Hardie and Adam Thomson, as well as valuable centre Phil Burleigh, for their first away clash of the season against the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday night.
It’s forced the Otago-based franchise to field a significantly revamped starting squad from the one that beat the Hurricanes 19-17 last weekend, with Shaun Treeby making his debut and three others getting their first run-on starts of the season.
It bodes well for the young Brumbies as they try to notch their third win from four games, but White said on Friday it would be foolish to take the swaps at face value.
“They’ve obviously got some young guys coming in,” said White.
“But at the same time, a guy like (flanker) James Haskell comes in who’s played international rugby and 40-odd Tests for England, so it’s not like they’re losing too much.
“With changes comes a new enthusiasm as well, so let’s not underestimate the fact that when you do make a couple of changes, those boys see it as an opportunity.
“We can’t be banking too much on the fact that five changes are going to help us.”
He will, however, be looking to capitalise on any teething problems with the Highlanders’ new outfit, emphasising the need for the Brumbies to start well.
“You’d like to believe it’ll take a bit of time for them to find their feet,” he said.
“So from our point of view, we’d like to get going before they can find their straps and get a rhythm to their game.”
The Brumbies themselves have fielded some modest changes, with White returning to his “tried and tested” lock combination of Leon Power and Sam Carter, which he wants to see play as often as possible in 2012.
Carter has been brought back into the starting side after being benched for last week’s last-gasp defeat to the Chiefs, while halfback Nic White has also been elevated in place of Ian Prior.
“I probably say it every week, but this is our biggest test yet,” the South African coach said.
“There’s a lot of expectations on their behalf but, at the same time, we haven’t lost at home.
“It’s going to go down to the wire.”
The Brumbies have won both home games at Canberra Stadium so far – a round-one victory over the Western Force and a final-minute win over the Cheetahs.
The New Zealand side have only won two of their eight matches played there.