Starless Brumbies have 'challenges' to overcome against Fiji fever

Missing star power, the ACT Brumbies face a steep task in bouncing back from a last-gasp loss, but coach Stephen Larkham is more worried about the other significant challenges confronting his side.

The Brumbies will aim to keep their top spot on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder with a win against the Fijian Drua in Ba on Saturday after a heartbreaking 34-31 loss to the Queensland Reds last round.

Larkham has been forced to make 10 changes to his side, which has remained mostly unaltered to start the season, because of Test player management protocols and injuries.

To make matters worse, beating the Drua in Fiji isn’t a cakewalk, with the Brumbies the only Australian team to ever win in the tropical island nation against their hosts.

The coach says his squad learnt a lot from their 36-32 dismantling of the Drua in Fiji last year when he faced a similar star shortage.

“We spoke about the fact that there were challenges last year that we overcame. The significant challenge is the travel, getting out of Canberra and getting to Fiji,” Larkham said.

“We left on Thursday at 8.55 am and then got to Nadi at 7:45 pm, so that’s fairly significant on the body.

“Last year, one of our players picked up dengue fever. There’s the humidity, there’s the rain, and there’s the crowd.”

Despite a transformed starting 15 that’s missing the in-form Charlie Cale, Rhys van Nek, James Slipper and Corey Toole, Larkham is instead prioritising his bench.

“With a lot of changes to the 23, we wanted to make sure that there’s real consistency in the back-end and there will be,” he said.

“Rory Scott comes off the bench, and hopefully Bobby (Valetini) and (Luke) Reimer play the whole way through.”

Valetini is one of the Brumbies key ins after he was rested for the Reds clash, while Wallabies lock Nick Frost will also return after spending Canberra’s first four games on ice.

“I saw this game early in the year and wanted to have it (100th Super Rugby cap) in Fiji,” Valetini told reporters on Friday.

“I had to get around 40 tickets as there will be a lot of my family there.”

The Drua come into the clash fresh from a bye week and will welcome speedster Ponipate Loganimasi back from injury.

They’ll be desperate to get a victory, knowing they sit equal last with the Western Force and Moana Pasifika on the ladder.