There is no worse place to lose a key player to injury than a pre-season friendly. Yet that is what is currently facing the Brumbies Super Rugby team. A Tomás Cubelli injury against the Waratahs has seriously threatened the ACT Brumbies hopes for the upcoming season. Australia’s only side to reach the finals series of Super Rugby in 2016, they now face an uphill struggle to at least be the highest ranked in their Conference. Their chances of repeating that success now hinge on two relatively unknown scrum halves.
Best of a Bad Bunch
The Brumbies may well have reached the quarter finals in 2016 and rewarded with a home qualifier, but they were far from at their best. In a season that saw all of the Australian sides struggle to reproduce form that saw their players reach the Rugby World Cup 2015 final in Wallabies Gold; the Canberra-based side were the best of a bad bunch.
The Australian Conference and the system itself received much criticism. One would have seen the Brumbies only just scrape into the finals series in eighth place, if it was a ‘traditional league’ structure. Yet 2017 has the appearance of being a strong one for the Brumbies.
STATEMENT: Tomás Cubelli Injury Update – https://t.co/HDcYThoXRK pic.twitter.com/Z2HgT3jipR
— Brumbies (@BrumbiesRugby) 6 February 2017
Cubelli’s season; as well as the Brumbies, has now been thrown into disarray with the announcement that he will have to undergo surgery on his knee. With no date yet set for a return, big questions must be posed for the Brumbies chances.
A pivotal position such as scrum half is not easy to replace on the eve of the new season. There are two men currently who await in the wings for their chance to make a mark on the Brumbies season. The sole remaining scrum half options named in the 2017 squad, their time is now.
Brumbies Scrum Half Options
Joe Powell
Powell has been described as ‘the next one of the next big thing’s in Australian rugby’ on the Brumbies Official website. Yet at only 22 years old, and with just 11 Super Rugby appearances to his the name, the time has come for him to step up. The pressure of that tagline would be enough to weigh down most players. Powell must also overcome being the first choice scrum half for the Brumbies with two weeks notice.
As a home town hero, Head Coach Stephen Larkham, has been careful to blood Powell (below) into the squad slowly. Now, however, he will be forced to make an immediate impact.
Ryan Lonergan
Lonergan, just promoted to the bench thanks to the Tomás Cubelli injury, is in his first season of Super Rugby. A potentially rapid rise to the match day squad for this 18 year old. Much as Larkham has done with Powell in recent seasons, he would have wanted to give Lonergan time to adapt to the pressures of the Super Rugby arena.
Unless something is resolved in terms of a late transfer in the next two weeks, then Lonergan could have a key role to play despite never having made a Super Rugby appearance yet.
Lack of Leadership Options
Not only will the Tomás Cubelli injury deprive the Brumbies of a key positional figure in terms of scrum half. It will also take away another vital leadership option. The departure of Stephen Moore to the Queensland Reds, and David Pocock’s sabbatical means the squad was already light on leadership. With Cubelli ruled out for an unconfirmed period, they have lost a ‘General’ on the field. In a squad brimming with threats in the outside backs, the Brumbies season could be determined by if the ball actually reaches them.
The ACT Brumbies fans will face an anxious few weeks leading up to the start of the Super Rugby season. Only in that first Round will they truly see whether Joe Powell or Ryan Lonergan have what it takes to propel the Brumbies back to being contenders in Super Rugby.
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