After opening their title defence with a win over the Reds, the ACT Brumbies are readying themselves for this weekend's clash with the Cats.

With the South African team's scrum rated the best in the Super 12 competition by Wallaby prop Bill Young, the Brumbies are expecting a set piece assault in the Canberra Stadium clash on Saturday.

The Cats opened their campaign with a 44-31 away win over the Bulls in Pretoria, and with debutant centre Gcobani Bobo scoring three of their tries, Young and ACT coach David Nucifora expect the visitors to try to get on top through the forwards.

"They are big boys, they put a lot of emphasis on their set pieces and try and out-muscle you. We will try and move them around the park a bit," Young (pictured) said.

"I think the Cats are the number one scrummaging side and obviously we've got to be on our toes this weekend."

"I thought they (his tight forwards) thoroughly outplayed the Reds and dominated them at both the scrum and the lineout," Nucifora said.

"The front row in particular were outstanding. To see Jeremy (Paul), Bill (Young) and Ben (Darwin) combining well was a real plus. The Cats will be looking to put our forwards under pressure, but I'm confident they will be able to handle it."

Having not played a match on the Wallabies' European tour late last year, Young was denied a crack at Australian teammates Nick Stiles and Glenn Panoho.

"With Panoho being injured and going to uncontested scrums and Nick Stiles being off the field more than he was on it, it was a bit difficult to gauge how we actually were going, but I thought the scrums that we had we dominated," Young said.

"With Stiles sin-binned early on and then blood-binned in the second half and no Panoho to come back on through injury, it was very disjointed for a frontrower scrummaging-wise."

Young has also strengthened his frame over the off-season, increasing his weight to 109 kilograms in an effort to increase his power for 2002.

"I'm certainly trying to make myself more of an offensive defender this year, that's one part of my game I'm looking to improve and the other part if my leg speed into contact," he said.

"David (Nucifora) has challenged me to make sure that I take on the defender as opposed to conceding yards and try and break and few a tackles this year."