Brumbies on a high after winning start
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL69Fev0YtA"]Brumbies vs Western Force Super 15 2012 Round 1 - YouTube[/ame]
One game into the Super Rugby season and the monkey is off Jake White's back.
A dull, grinding 19-17 win over the Western Force in their season opener was not the explosive start long-suffering Brumbies fans had hoped for, but it was enough.
Calculating in the Brumbies' bye next weekend, it also has the ACT franchise in foreign land early in the season - near top of the ladder.
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"We're probably top of the log as we speak," White said.
The Brumbies coach, who arrived in Canberra last July, has long stressed to his youthful squad the importance of the opening round, and said the relief of victory amongst his charges was palpable.
But White is not getting overconfident, acknowledging the Brumbies - as well as the Force - wasted the first half playing cautious rugby and going for points.
Goalkicker Nic White's inaccuracy will also come under scrutiny, after bagging just three from six attempts and missing both of the Brumbies' try conversions.
"It's a bit like two heavyweight boxers just feeling each other out," White said of the first 40 minutes.
"We can't just be going through the motions and be scared.
"I'm just glad we managed to get over the line."
The Brumbies set up the victory in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with tries to debuting winger Jesse Mogg and fullback Robbie Coleman.
The Force hit back with a try to James Stannard, but couldn't breach the Brumbies' defence in the final minutes despite having possession and driving towards their line.
Brumbies skipper Ben Mowen said his squad showed discipline not to give away a penalty.
"It's very easy to throw a guy off his feet or make a poor decision and they kick the points and then you walk away saying what could have been," he said.
"But you can see in that last three minutes, our discipline is right on the money."
White said the win holds the Brumbies in good stead considering their woes last season.
"This time last year, or middle of last year, we would have bought that win, you would have paid money.
"It would have been really tough to lose that game and then sort of try and pick players up who were in a downward spiral last year.
"You can sense in the changerooms there's a massive sense of relief."
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Brumbies prepare for tight battle
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The Brumbies are bracing for another Super Rugby nail-biter on Saturday night when they face the unbeaten Highlanders, who like the Canberra franchise have left their fans on edge until the final whistle.
While the table-topping Otago-based team have been the standouts over the first four rounds - accounting for highly-regarded teams the Chiefs, Crusaders, Waratahs and Hurricanes - they've won all those matches by four points or less.
Similarly, the Brumbies have battled the clock to pip the Western Force by two points, sink the Cheetahs with a penalty kick on the fulltime siren and then lose at the death last Friday night when the Chiefs crossed with the last play of the game.
Brumbies forwards coach Laurie Fisher on Thursday backed his young squad to galvanise after the heartbreak of their first loss under coach Jake White.
"A moment of madness might cost you so you've got to play from one to 80 every week," said Fisher.
"But there's tremendous character in the side and a tremendous desire so again I'm confident that we'll be giving a good account of ourselves."
Fisher said the Highlanders will no doubt be the biggest test in a taxing section of their campaign with a clash at home to the Sharks to follow and then a trip to Brisbane to face champions Queensland.
"They don't have any weaknesses in their game," Fisher said.
"They are strong up front, they pick and drive well ... they've got width.
"They challenge you constantly and they challenge you in all parts of the field.
"It'll be a very, very tough day for us."
The Brumbies have recalled Sam Carter at lock and Nic White at halfback, both who started last week's match on the bench, while Michael Hooper has retained his place at openside flanker.
Carter was brought in at the expense of Scott Fardy, despite a solid contribution from the versatile forward in just his third Super Rugby match against the Chiefs.
Fisher said rotation would continue to be part and parcel of the Brumbies' selection process.
"We'll look across our squad and we've got to have faith in our development, faith in the quality of players, faith in our depth and give people opportunity."
Fijian-born Tevita Kuridrani is in line for his Super Rugby debut against after being named on the bench.
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Brumbies pass own test as Coleman awaits results Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/ru
ACT Brumbies backs coach Steve Larkham said the high-flying Super Rugby side might have surprised outsiders with its start to the season but it hadn't exceeded its own expectations by sitting on top of the Australian conference ladder.
And he was adamant there was no risk his young side would get ahead of itself either.
The Brumbies leapt above the Queensland Reds to be the highest-ranked Australian side after their 33-26 victory over the previously unbeaten Otago Highlanders on Saturday.
Larkham put the cohesive display by the forwards and backs down to hard work, pure and simple.
''[We're] exceeding everyone else's expectations I guess but for us we've been training now for a long period, the pre-season was very long and very intense and the stuff that they're doing on the paddock is a reflection of what we were doing in the pre-season, so it's just coming to fruition at the moment,'' he said.
Former Wallaby and rugby commentator Greg Martin agreed it was unlikely the Brumbies would get carried away with their win over the Highlanders.
''There's enough guys in the team from last year who would know, there's no getting ahead of themselves. They've only had one good win for the year, the rest have been close losses or close wins, they wouldn't be getting over confident yet,'' Martin said.
Meanwhile, Larkham labelled fullback Robbie Coleman a ''long-shot'' to return for Saturday night's clash with the Durban Sharks at Canberra Stadium.
Coleman injured his groin in the Brumbies' round-one win over the Western Force.
Larkham said the 21-year-old fullback was still a day-by-day proposition but didn't expect him to be right for the Sharks.
''Everything's progressing as we expect. With Robbie, some days are good some days are poor, the last five days or so have been pretty good for him,'' Larkham said.
''But again it's an assessment we have to make day-to-day and week-to-week. I don't think he's playing this weekend but we're still trying to push him to get back this weekend, it's long odds but there's a chance he'll play.''
When he does return it could force emerging back Jesse Mogg out of the squad. As a member of the extended playing squad, Mogg - who has shone both on the wing and at fullback since Coleman's injury - is only eligible to play when a fellow back is injured.
Blindside flanker Peter Kimlin limped from the field against the Highlanders with a cork just above his knee but is expected to play against the Sharks.
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