Brumbies

Brumbies set to welcome Pocock back for 'Canes

Pocock suffered a concussion in the first five minutes of the Brumbies’ round one clash with the Rebels and missed last weekend’s match against the Chiefs.

The superstar flanker is expected to be fit for Friday night’s game in Wellington and Banks said the turnover machine would be a valuable addition.

“He's a world-class player,” he said.

“The thing he brings is the turnovers he can bring it just helps us as a backline to attack unstructured defences.

“That's what we try and do and he's the best at getting turnovers.”

Pulu's World Cup hopes suffer a blow

Pulu, who joined the Canberra-based side this season with an eye on forcing his way into Michael Cheika's Wallabies squad, lasted less than 10 minutes with his new club against the Melbourne Rebels before he suffered the injury on Friday.

The 30-year-old, who was born in the United States and played rugby sevens for Niue, can represent Australia through his parents.

Once dubbed the fastest man in New Zealand rugby, Pulu was invited to a pre-season camp by Cheika as he assessed players he was interested in ahead of this year's showpiece in Japan.

Faingaa owns firebrand tag

The 23-year-old landed himself in hot water in the 63rd minute of the Brumbies' big win over the Bulls in Pretoria a fortnight ago - shown a red card after headbutting Matthys Basson.

The sendoff came with the match precariously poised and while ACT went on to claim a season defining win, Faingaa can't makes the same mistake against Ireland, should he earn a debut.

The hit first, think later approach to his game is exactly why Faingaa is in the frame for a debut but he knows the aggression he brings to the side must be controlled.

Crusaders flanker set to join Wallabies

The 26 -year-old qualifies for Australia as he was born in Melbourne and is set to play in the June test series against Six Nations champions Ireland.

The loose forward had two stints in Sydney club rugby with Randwick and has earned almost 30 caps for the Crusaders since making his debut in 2016.

Samu switched to New Zealand's Tasman and was spotted by the Crusaders and was Player of the Year in 2015 in their development team, the Knights.

Brumbie cited for high shot on Dagg

The former Western Force player was sent to the sin-bin in the first half for a high hit on the Crusaders' Israel Dagg, who was taken from the field and failed a head injury assessment.

The citing commissioner believed Peni should have been shown a red card for the incident upon reviewing the match.

The nature of the offence is a player must not tackle an opponent dangerously.

Peni will face the SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee on Monday.

The Brumbies lost the game 21-8 and slumped to fourth in the Australian conference with a 3-6 record.

Brumbies spring round one surprises

Ben Alexander and Allan Alaalatoa will team up in the front row for their match against the Sunwolves, with Sio nursing a 'minor niggle' back in Canberra.

Richie Arnold has usurped his twin Rory for his debut Brumbies start, with the latter on the pine in Tokyo.

Canberra Vikings captain and 2016 Olympian Tom Cusack will have the first chance to take the seven jersey as David Pocock recovers from knee surgery, with Lochie McCaffrey on the bench.

Cusack will combine with Rob Valetini and breakout 2017 star Isi Naisarani in the backrow in the opening clash.

Christian Lealiifano thanks fans, family and teammates after cancer fight

The inspirational Brumbies captain opened up on Tuesday about his rugby comeback, the people who inspired him to beat cancer and his hunger to win a Super Rugby championship.

It was an emotional 30-minute press conference and he hopes others fighting the blood cancer can use his story to find strength in their journey.

Lealiifano is in remission after being diagnosed with leukaemia in August last year, but doctors have told him to keep fighting for at least two years.

"One thing they never guarantee is the cancer won't come back," Lealiifano said.

Hurricanes break down Brumbies to reach semis

It was far from a perfect performance from the defending champions as they struggled up front early and had to break down a rugged Brumbies defensive line to keep their hopes of back to back titles alive.

Brumbies believe they can beat the very best

Though they come into the quarter-finals with the worst record of all the finalists, the Brumbies have been on the wrong end of some nail biters, losing seven games by less than seven points this season.

One of the exceptions to that statistic was a 56-21 loss to the Hurricanes in Napier, the team the Brumbies will host on a Friday night.

Despite that, Alaalatoa said the side's unity gave him unwavering confidence.

"We’ve been with each other for the whole year and know all the hard work that we’ve done and we know what we’re capable of when we’re on," he said.

Lealiifano comeback goes beyond Canberra

The Canberra playmaker has inspired all of his teammates, and his return off the bench in Friday night’s quarter-final will be a timely boost.

The 29-year-old’s journey, though, has not gone over the heads of their quarter-final opponents, with the popular flyhalf’s comeback watched by so many in rugby.

Hurricanes skipper TJ Perenara remembers when the news filtered through almost this time last year, when the Wellington side was preparing for what would ultimately be their first Super Rugby championship.