ACT Brumbies on mission to fix scrum and unleash attacking stars

The Brumbies arrived in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning Australian time still seething after a one-point loss to the Cape Town Stormers which threatens to derail their title aspirations.

The scrum was demolished by the Stormers and technical weaknesses were ruthlessly exposed.

But the star-laden back line rarely saw the ball in the second half and the Brumbies have scored just one try after half-time in the past four matches.

White acknowledged the Brumbies were still trying to find the right balance between forward play and back-line plays with attacking stars including Henry Speight, Joseph Tomane and Tevita Kuridrani.

"We had no ball in the second half against the Stormers, you need go forward before you can work the backs in," White said.

"We wanted to unleash at the second half to give our guys out wide a chance, we've got great runners but we couldn't get them the ball.

"We have to go back and have a look. We couldn't get into it, whether that was us … I don't know. We've got some attacking weapons, we're trying to get them in the game.

"But to do that, we need clean ball. We can't be blown off the park [up front]. We want to play footy. Even when we play badly, we're still in games. We've got to have a look in our own backyard and fix a few things."

The Brumbies have turned to their lineout and rolling maul as go-to attacking moves this season.

It has regularly paid off, including David Pocock scoring four tries in four weeks, but it has come at a cost to free-flowing back line attack.

The Brumbies have at times missed opportunities to put the hammer down out wide, but Tomane and Speight have been working their way into games.

The Brumbies will be racing to fix the scrum in time for the clash against the Lions to ensure it is not the weak link in their game.

"The scrum is one of those funny things, we worked hard on it but we didn't get the result we wanted," said flanker Scott Fardy said.

"The guys up front cop it, but the back five have to do their job. We probably let the front row down.

"All the games are must-wins now, regardless of what happens. You want to win all of these games if you're going into the finals."

Fardy conceded the Brumbies had some "balance problems" in attack.

"We're probably seeing the forwards do a bit too much carrying and we'd love to see the backs get their hands on the ball," Fardy said.

"But sometimes that doesn't happen, especially with the way they play in South Africa."

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham could make changes to his starting side this week in a bid to spark the team into action.

Playmaker Matt Toomua has joined the team and his arrival will likely see the back-line re-shuffled for his return from an ankle injury.

Jordan Smiler, Allan Alaalatoa and Jarrad Butler are pushing for places in the starting line-up.

"At times in the back line we went a bit quiet. We want to win as a team, but I look at the performance against the Stormers and over the last three weeks, they've been good," Larkham said.

"But we've fallen short on two of those occasions and we have to change that."

SUPER RUGBY ROUND 14

Sunday: Johannesburg Lions v ACT Brumbies at Ellis Park, 1.05am Australian time. TV time: Live on Fox Sports 2.