ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham is confident Wallabies squad member David Feliuai can add the necessary power in the midfield to take it to the Blues on Friday.
Feliuai will start at inside centre at Eden Park after recovering from a finger injury and will partner with Len Ikitau.
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“We'd seen really good promising signs from him in terms of wearing that number 12 jersey," Larkham told reporters.
“(He’s) really skilful and quite combative. He’s happy to throw his body on the line in defence and then runs really good lines. His timing is exceptional under the ball so we’re looking forward to seeing him out there in combination with Lenny (Ikitau) in the centres.
“He's someone that we earmarked from the Rebels when there was a transition for those Rebels players out of Melbourne to come into the Brumbies set up and we're lucky enough to get him.”
It's one of several changes as Larkham looks to give his wider squad experience during their two-game trip to NZ.
Harrison Goddard, Lachlan Lonergan and Tom Hooper come into the starting side, with Feao Fotuaika returning via the bench.
“We’ve given some guys opportunities to come into the team and try and build depth in the squad as well as looking at the 80-minute challenge we have this week,” the coach said.
“When you look at some of the guys that are coming into the starting team, it's their first opportunity this year and they have been training exceptionally well.
“Some of them have played exceptionally well in the trial games and deserve a spot to start and then equally the guys coming off the bench we’re expecting them to add real impact and who have leadership having started for us.”
Whilst memory of winning at Eden Park escapes the Wallabies great, Larkham was on hand for one of their biggest wins by an Australian side at the ground, scoring first in a 35-7 thumping in 2001.
The Brumbies last won at the venue in 2013, and Larkham believes the mini-tour has them primed to face the challenge.
“They didn't start the game the season so well, but I thought it was a very good performance on the weekend, in line with what they had last year through the season," he notes.
“The challenge for us coming to Auckland (previously) is there’s a fair amount of travel to get here, and we're arriving two nights before the game, which is a disjointed preparation. This time around, we’ve spent a couple of days in Hamilton and just arrived in Auckland to a great training session at one of the schools.
“We've learned a lot over the last 12 months around our program and the way that we want to prepare. We encountered the Blues twice last year, and we feel that we've learned a lot from those games.
“We see the way that they're playing this year, and we think that we've got a really good game plan, and from a player perspective, their focus is very much on coming out of this game with a better performance than what we had last week.
BRUMBIES (1-15): James Slipper, Lachlan Lonergan, Allan Alaalatoa (c), Nick Frost, Lachlan Shaw, Tom Hooper, Rory Scott, Charlie Cale, Harrison Goddard, Declan Meredith, Corey Toole, David Feliuai, Len Ikitau, Andy Muirhead, Tom Wright
Replacements: Billy Pollard, Blake Schoupp, Feao Fotuaika, Cadeyrn Neville, Luke Reimer, Ryan Lonergan, Jack Debreczeni, Ollie Sapsford
