Larkham to stick with rotation policy

The Brumbies will continue to rotate their players in their bid to finish at the top of the Australian Conference this year.

That was the word from the Canberra-based outfit’s head coach Stephen Larkham after his side’s 18-13 home defeat against the Highlanders on Saturday.

The Brumbies made five changes to their run-on side for that clash despite claiming a 28-12 victory over the Waratahs last weekend. But despite the change in fortunes for his team, Larkham is believes he is on the right track regarding his selection policy.

“The guys have really enjoyed getting out there for a couple of games and then letting other guys have a chance,” he told AAP.

“We want to maintain that throughout the whole year.”

Larkham has chopped and changed his starting line-up regularly and fielded only one unchanged side this season.

“The beauty of this squad is that there is so much competition for spots,” he added.

“There’s been guys who’ve had their opportunity in these first five games to get into the squad. Other guys who have missed out who probably don’t deserve to have missed out.”

And although he knows there’s a fine line between changing his players or maintaining certain partnerships, Larkham is sticking to his rotation policy.

“You’ve got to be very careful with who you change and when you change,” he said.

Saturday’s five-point loss is their biggest defeat of the season but although the Brumbies could be forgiven for wondering what could have been, Larkham is not spending too much time on pondering such situations and remains realistic in his approach.

“It’s irrelevant, isn’t it?” he added.

“Our destiny, like we always say, is in our hands.

“If we make sure we win the games in front of us, the result will look after itself at the end of the year.”