Super Rugby Final: Chiefs v Brumbies
Brumbies housemates lock down for final
July 31, 2013
The Brumbies' Scott Fardy gestures to team-mates, Western Force v Brumbies, Super Rugby, nib Stadium, Perth, July 13, 2013
Brumbies lock Scott Fardy has impressed in 2013, resulting in a call-up to the Wallabies squad © Getty Images
Enlarge

Brumbies housemates Sam Carter and Scott Fardy are confident they can find a way to better the Chiefs' gun second row in the Super Rugby final on Saturday night.

The lock duo will be up against one of the competition's most dominant scrum and lineout pairings - Ireland-bound Craig Clarke is Chiefs' co-captain and his burly young partner-in-crime Brodie Retallick is a current All Black.

"They're two world-class locks who have had a very strong season," Carter said. "They'll be fired up and wanting to send Clarke out with a win. Scott and I haven't talked about it yet, but we'll work out a plan where we can get on top of them."

After two weeks of bruising finals encounters against big South African forward packs, Carter said the Brumbies would have to re-adjust their game plan for the New Zealand pack.

"South Africans are more direct, straight and try to bash you while New Zealand teams are a bit more mobile and have a bit more skill on the end of their game," Carter said.

While the Chiefs locks have developed a potent combination, Carter and Fardy have formed a formidable partnership of their own. Workhorse Carter has missed just one game this year, while Fardy was recently named in new Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie's 40-man squad to prepare for the Rugby Championship.

"It was obviously a huge surprise, I found out on the Thursday night before the Bulls match and I was very excited," Fardy said. "It probably made me a little bit more nervous to be honest."

Despite his nerves, Fardy backed up his Wallabies squad call up with a solid performance in the Brumbies' shock 26-23 semi-final win over the Bulls in Pretoria on Sunday morning.

The Bulls were one-point up and opted to kick for the corner rather than take three points on several occasions in an attempt to close out the game with their lethal rolling maul. Fardy was pivotal in preventing that from happening - even if it did involve questionable tactics.

"I put myself on the line and tried to stop a few mauls," Fardy said. "You can't let the Bulls maul all day otherwise you're in for a long day at the office."


Follow live text commentary of the Super Rugby Final between the Chiefs and the Brumbies on Saturday, August 3, from 7pm (NZT), 5pm (EST), 7am (GMT)

© AAP

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.