Brumbies provide season-ending injury updates on three players

The Brumbies have lost three players for the remainder of the 2026 season, and one more is facing a race against time to feature in the club’s coming playoff push.

Young centre Kadin Pritchard is one of the losses, with a high-grade hamstring injury to blame for his impressive season coming to an end early. The 21-year-old was initially named to start his 13th game of the season in the No.13 jersey against Moana Pasifika this weekend, but has now been replaced by Hudson Creighton.

Tuaina Taii Tualima’s Brumbies career has ended, with the loose forward undergoing shoulder surgery and now unavailable for selection ahead of his recently announced move to Colomiers in the French D2.

“Tuaina is a great player and a really top-class person. Everyone at the Brumbies wishes him and his family all the very best as he takes the next step in his rugby journey,” Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said.

Hooker Chris Mickelson left the field just eight minutes into his Super Rugby debut against the Western Force and has now been diagnosed with an ACL tear that will end his 2026 campaign. The 23-year-old managed to score a try on debut before sustaining the injury.

An injury cloud also hangs over Ollie Sapsford, with a knee injury set to keep the outside back sidelined for 2-4 weeks.

The Brumbies’ showdown with Moana Pasifika in Canberra on Saturday afternoon will help decide whether the club finish the regular season in 4th, 5th or 6th heading into next week’s qualifying final. While a home fixture is now out of reach, the lucky-loser place in the semi-finals will be awarded to the highest-seeded loser of next week’s knockout games, putting extra emphasis on round 16’s results.

The sixth-placed team will travel to Wellington to face the table-topping Hurricanes, while the fifth-placed team will travel to Hamilton to face a Chiefs side eager to finally get over the line after three consecutive close calls. The third qualifying final will be played in either Christchurch or Auckland if the Blues beat the Chiefs on Saturday evening.