The Brumbies have announced their side for Sunday afternoon’s titanic clash in Bruce against the mighty Crusaders:
Palmer takes back his signature No. 3 jersey at tighthead prop moving Ben Alexander to loose-head and Scott Sio to the bench. Ruaidhri Murphy drops from the game-day 22.
The match holds special significance as George Smith will break George Gregan’s record as the most capped Brumby when he moves onto 137 appearances.
Head Coach Jake White said he was pleased to keep consistency in his selections coming into the back end of the season.
“I’ve said before that by this point in the season we would like to be keeping more consistency in our selections and I suppose that is clearly reflected in the team we’ve picked today,” White said.
“Dan Palmer has been terrific in the scrum for us this year and we will be looking for a big performance from him.
“Brumbies v Crusaders has traditionally been one of the biggest games on the ACT sporting calendar, but the way scheduling would have it the fixture hasn’t been played in Canberra for a number of years.
The side is:
- University of Canberra Brumbies
1. Ben Alexander
2. Stephen Moore
3. Dan Palmer
4. Peter Kimlin
5. Sam Carter
6. Fotu Auelua
7. George Smith
8. Ben Mowen (c)
9. Nic White
10. Matt Toomua
11. Joe Tomane
12. Christian Lealiifano
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Henry Speight
15. Jesse Mogg
Replacements
16. Siliva Siliva
17. Scott Sio
18. Leon Power
19. Colby Faingaa
20. Ian Prior
21. Robbie Coleman
22. Pat McCabe