Watch every second of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season live and on demand via Stan Sport.<\/a><\/p>\nAlaalatoa slots straight into the starting front row, bringing leadership and experience, while Lonergan is set to make his impact off the bench in a timely boost for the side.<\/p>\n
James Slipper \u2013 who surprisingly won\u2019t celebrate a milestone this week \u2013 will join Alaalatoa in the front row, either side of hooker Billy Pollard.<\/p>\n
Pollard, who has quickly established himself as one of that nation\u2019s best in his position, will celebrate his 50th cap, adding another layer of significance to the occasion.<\/p>\n
The reinforcements don\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n
Lock Nick Frost also returns to the starting XV alongside the in-form Lachie Shaw, strengthening the Brumbies\u2019 pack ahead of what shapes as a physical encounter at Forsyth Barr Stadium.<\/p>\n
The back row remains the envy of the competition, with Rob Valetini, Rory Scott, and Charlie Cale once more forming a formidable loose trio.<\/p>\n
Captain Ryan Lonergan will run out for his 100th Super Rugby match, with younger brother Lachlan earning the special opportunity to share in the milestone on return from injury.<\/p>\n
He will again be partnered by Declan Meredith, who continues to impress in the number 10 jersey.<\/p>\n
Ollie Sapsford and Corey Toole remain on the wings, providing the side with a balance of blistering pace as well as a physical presence.<\/p>\n
The centre combination of David Feliuai and Kadin Pritchard continues to go from strength to strength, with the midfield looming as a key matchup on Friday.<\/p>\n
The ever-reliable Andy Muirhead rounds out the starting 15 at fullback, for what shapes as\u00a0 pivotal clash in the Brumbies season.<\/p>\n
With experience returning, milestones on the line and a tough New Zealand assignment ahead, the Brumbies will be primed for a big performance under the roof in Dunedin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boys are back! The ACT Brumbies have welcomed back two of their most important forwards, with Allan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[58864,64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-592715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-act-brumbies","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-rugby","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}