Larkham, Finegan set to play Reds
May 15, 2001

Wallabies Stephen Larkham and Owen Finegan will run out in a full-strength Brumbies team for Saturday's Super 12 semi-final against the Reds in Canberra.

Fyhalf Larkham missed last weekend's impressive victory against the Chiefs due to a hamstring strain, but showed no sign of problems in a heavy training session on Tuesday.

Finegan sat out the training, but is expected to recover from a pinched shoulder nerve. After missing last year's final against the Crusaders in Canberra, nothing will stop the flanker from featuring in this year's decider should the Brumbies get over Queensland on Saturday.

"Tomorrow I might give it a harder hit out, but I'll probably hold back a little bit so that I can get into the game I suppose," Larkham said. "It's sudden death from now on in, so there's no second chance if we don't win and I really want to be part of the side."

Larkham said the question was not whether he would play, but whether he would opt to test his leg at full pace during training in the lead-up.

Brumbies coach Eddie Jones said the team was a little wiser after last year's disappointment in the final and was well prepared for the pressure of finals football.

"I think having had that experience this year we can probably prepare a little bit more smartly," Jones said. "Where we're situated now I feel that we're in a better position that we were last season and I think we've got a better all-round game that we did have last season, but we've got to go out now and prove that fact in the pressure of a semi-final."

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices