Brumbies’ Alaalatoa ready for Rebels raid

Melbourne Rebels will target tighthead prop Allan Alaalatoa and the Brumbies skipper says bring it on in the lead-up to their Super Rugby clash on Friday.

The Brumbies pride their game on the set-piece but they struggled against the Queensland Reds last week and the Rebels have named two fresh props to further exploit their opponents’ scrum.

Alaalatoa says the Brumbies’ scrum woes have been fixed and he’s ready to play another 80 minutes as thy chase 10-straight wins at Canberra Stadium.

“They have a quality side and great forward pack … we know our set-piece is definitely going to be tested,” Alaalatoa said.

“Our (scrum) is definitely a work on from last week … it’s definitely something we weren’t happy with and something we’re looking to rectify.

“They’re going to come out hard tomorrow night but we’re looking forward to the battle up front.”

The Rebels endured a shock loss to the axe-bound Sunwolves in their season opener but have won their past four games against the Brumbies.

Alaalatoa admitted the Brumbies will play with a chip on their shoulder as they look to snap the losing streak.

“Our battles against the Rebels are always tough,” Alaalatoa said.

“They’ve always been a team that can grind out games and take their opportunities and looking back on the last couple of years we’ve probably just missed out on those small opportunities.”

“They have a point to prove from last week but we’ve had some great learnings from last week too.”

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar believes the key to beating the Rebels is “not getting bored” with the game plan.

“That is something we’ve focused on this week,” Alaalatoa said.

“Just doing the simple things right and as Dan said just not getting bored of that because we know opportunities will present off the back of that.”

Rebels coach Dave Wessels said the primary battle against the Brumbies was always set-piece and sledged their attacking style.

“When your hooker is your leading try scorer it says a little bit about how you’re scoring your tries,” Wessels said.

“We have to deal with that as we have done in previous years and we always have a few things we can pull out of the hat that they don’t expect and catch them off guard.”

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