Mortlock gets green light
Captain Stirling Mortlock has been recalled to the Brumbies side for their final home match of the Super 14 season against the Lions on Friday.
Captain Stirling Mortlock has been recalled to the Brumbies side for their final home match of the Super 14 season against the Lions on Friday.
The inspirational Mortlock has recovered from a head knock he received against the Blues a fortnight ago and been given the green light to resume his injury-plagued campaign.
Hooker John Ulugia is the other addition to the side which beat the Sharks 27-21 last weekend.
Mortlock's return to his customary position at outside centre pushes Adam Ashley-Cooper to the wing after he scored two tries against the Sharks.
Winger Peter Playford has been ruled out through injury while Francis Fainifo holds down his position on the left wing.
Ulugia has been elevated to the starting front row in the only change to the forward pack.
The 21-year-old is excited about the call-up to the run-on side.
“It's always great to get into the starting side,” said Ulugia.
“The side has been going well in the last few weeks and it's important that we continue playing well.”
“The Lions have a strong forward pack so we need to make sure our set piece is strong and we're recycling our own ball.”
Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher said the inclusion of the powerful Ulugia will add grunt to the game of the Brumbies.
“At 113 kilograms, 'Luge' will give some size and stability to our set piece,” said Fisher.
“He's still developing a lot of the technical aspects of the position, but he's very strong and he gets around the field well for someone of his size.
“We need to continue to get consistency in our set piece and use that as a platform to attack from against a very enthusiastic Lions outfit.”
Fisher said continuing the good late-season form was a must.
“It has been pleasing to see the attitude and self belief that the side has approached the last two matches with,” said Fisher.
“There have been a lot of pleasing aspects from our last two performances and it's very important that we continue to build on that confidence and take our game forward over the final four rounds of the competition.”
Brumbies: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Patrick Phibbs, 8 Julian Salvi, 7 George Smith, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Nic Henderson
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Salesi Maafu, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Ben Alexander, 20 Stephen Hoiles, 21 Josh Holmes, 22 Sanualio Afeaki
Date: Friday, April 25
Venue: Canberra Stadium, Canberra
Kick-off: 19:40 (11:40 GMT)
Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Brett Bowden (Australia)
Television match official: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)
Assessor: Wayne Erickson (Australia)