The ACT Brumbies will turn to a club rugby "bruiser" to help cover the hooker injury woes after coach Stephen Larkham was forced into a late line-up change on Thursday night.
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Royals star Liam Bowron is poised to make his Super Rugby debut just a few years after making the switch from openside flanker to hooker in a bid to pursue a professional career.
He has been brought into the game-day squad to play against the Fijian Drua after Billy Pollard withdrew with knee soreness. Pollard's absence leaves a hole with Lachlan Lonergan already on the sidelines after dislocating and fracturing his ankle last month.
But Bowron's club coach is adamant the former Australian schoolboys flanker is up to the challenge and his Royals teammates celebrated at training on Thursday night as news filtered through.
"He's a bruiser - he goes hard at everything," Royals coach Adam Butt beamed.
"He just does all the little dirty work. He's rough and tumble, but we put him down as our player to watch this year. A hooker as our player to watch. That says something.
"He's not the biggest guy ... but he's a great scrummager and can throw. We're massively stoked for him, he's been our best player all year and it's not surprising with the work we've put in.
"But we couldn't be prouder - a bloke who's come through our system and a Canberra guy. The guys will get a massive kick out of this at training."
Bowron's addition is another change to the Brumbies, who are walking the top-two tightrope with five weeks left in the regular season.
Connal McInerney, Tom Hooper, Nick Frost, Jahrome Brown, Harrison Goddard and Andy Muirhead have all been added to the starting side, while Hudson Creighton, Declan Meredith and Harry Vella are on the bench.
Larkham is trying to manage player workloads without having an impact on the club's mission to finish in the top two to have the best chance of winning a title.
"We've put ourselves in a situation where we've got to wait for other teams to do a job on those top-two teams. It's out of our control," Larkham said.
That also makes the Drua a dangerous proposition. Because the only thing Larkham and the Brumbies know about their Fijian rivals is this: be prepared for chaos.
Larkham pointed to one statistic that makes that plainly obvious. The Drua's two wingers and fullback have made a combined 260 tackle busts this year.
The Brumbies, in contrast, have made 120 tackle busts shared between 33 players used so far this season. You read that right, 260 busts between three Drua players compared to the Brumbies' team total of 120.
"We're prepping for different scenarios not really knowing what we're going to get," Larkham said. "But we do know they've got some really dangerous individuals who are strong through contact and have a strong offloading game."
The Drua have been one of Super Rugby's bright spots in recent years while other aspects of the game have struggled. Their flair has brought smiles to faces, dazzling fans and bamboozling opponents in some giant-slaying performances.
But they've also been caught up in controversy, too. Prop Jone Koroiduadua's headbutt against the Melbourne Rebels and Frank Lomani's elbow chop in the same game sparked debate about punishments dished out by the judiciary.
"It will be typical Drua this weekend," Larkham said. "They'll be unpredictable. We're expecting everything."
D-DAY ARRIVES FOR MELBOURNE REBELS
Coach Kevin Foote says his team are trying to stay focused on their Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Blues on Friday, despite a meeting before kick-off that could spell the end of the Melbourne Rebels.
The Rebels host the Blues on Friday night, with creditors meeting at 2pm to vote on whether to back a rescue deal to save the financially stricken outfit or allow the club to enter liquidation.
In his report last week, PwC voluntary administrator Stephen Longley recommended that creditors, including the Australian Tax Office, which is owed a total of $23.1 million, accept a proposal by a private investor group, including current directors.
Rebels directors have proposed a deed of company arrangement (DOCA), which would guarantee employees 100 per cent of their entitlements, but leave unsecured creditors with as little as 15 cents to the dollar.
However, even if the plan is accepted, Rugby Australia, which stepped in to prop up the team until the end of the 2024 season, still has the final say on whether to return the competition licence.
Foote said the entire club's staff, including players, were addressed this week about the creditors' meeting and the possible outcomes.
"It's not the average week, going into the Blues when you're discussing this stuff," Foote said.
"Our intention was to nail it early so as not to distract from the game, so from my perspective, focusing on the game is important.
"Friday is going to come and whatever comes we will be ready for it and that's how we've been the whole year.
"There's still so much uncertainty ... we don't know where Rugby Australia stands on this, and every week we hear the same thing that 'we can't tell you'.
"All we can focus on is the Blues."
The Rebels sit fifth on the Super ladder but are coming off a 39-0 loss to the Crusaders, which ended a run of three successive victories.
Their scrum in particular misfired, with Foote swapping the entire front row after 31 minutes.
The second-placed Blues meanwhile roared home in their last outing to pip Queensland.
"We were bitterly disappointed about our performance in Christchurch," Foote said.
"We had a slow start and then our set piece, but all facets of our game didn't fire against the Crusaders.
"The guys have trained really well this week and we understand the physical challenge coming."