Brumbies have back to wall: Gerrard
BY CHRIS DUTTON RUGBY UNION 3/03/2009 1:00:00 AM

Mark Gerrard labelled the ACT Brumbies' back line ''simply not good enough'', saying yesterday it needed to take pressure off under-fire flyhalf Christian Lealiifano.
The Brumbies will use this weekend's bye to fine-tune their combinations for the round five clash against the NSW Waratahs on March13.

Despite boasting stars including Wallabies skipper Stirling Mortlock, Adam-Ashley Cooper, Clyde Rathbone and fullback Gerrard, the backs have emerged as the area of the Brumbies game that needs the most work.

They failed to fire in the team's 25-16 loss to the Western Force last weekend and Gerrard said their problems had to be fixed.

''We've got more than a fair bit of work to do and we're just not gelling as a back line,'' Gerrard said yesterday.

''You can have all the class players in the world in your back line but if they're not working together you're not going to get the results.

''There's no doubt we're not working as well as we should be and we need to find out what is going wrong. It shouldn't be happening at all.''

Coach Andy Friend will name fringe players today in a Brumbies Runners team to play the Australian Barbarians at Viking Park on Sunday.

Gene Fairbanks is expected to make his return from injury and give Friend another back line option.

A host of other players will be given a chance to impress the coach and he said all positions would be looked at closely.

Friend conceded Lealiifano had to improve his game and said a decision on his position in the team had not been made.

''He's a young boy who had a big week last week up against the fella [Matt Giteau] who's coming here next year so there were probably a few nerves there,'' Friend said.

''He probably wasn't overly happy with his performance ...calling for his head is potentially a bit harsh, but we'll wait and see what happens.''

Gerrard limped from the field against the Force with 12 minutes remaining after injuring his quad.

But the 26-year-old said his early exit was just a precaution and he would be fit for the match against NSW.


Gerrard said the Brumbies may have been relying too much on Lealiifano.

''I think he's doing a good job and the other backs should probably be helping out more.''

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news...d/1448564.aspx


Brumbies are in damage control after their loss to the Western Force....