'Credit in the bank': Brumbies coach Dan McKellar backs experience for Super Rugby

There were very few surprises when McKellar named his round-one team on Wednesday night, choosing to stick with incumbents from last season for the clash against the Western Force.

There's plenty of Wallabies experience, while an injection of fresh blood will come from the bench when Ed Kennedy and Ollie Sapsford make their Super Rugby debuts.

Jesse Mogg will play his first game for the Brumbies in seven years, and returns having overcome a horrific leg injury in France which kept him out for 651 days.

But overall, the Brumbies are as many fans and opponents would have expected following two years of relative success in COVID-19 Australian competitions.

That doesn't mean McKellar is relaxed. He said some selection calls went down to the wire.

"What I've done is I've backed the incumbents," McKellar said. "They've got some credit in the bank, I suppose. And worked incredibly hard over the last couple of months.

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"They get the first opportunity, knowing they've got to take the opportunity now."

Rory Scott will start in the No. 7 jersey, while Folau Fainga'a and Lachlan Lonergan will share the hooker duties.

"Rory has just been training consistently well. Day after day, month after month for the last six months to be honest," McKellar said. "The decision was so tight it really came down to who had trained best for the longest."

The new Super Rugby competition will launch with distinct Australian and New Zealand flavours for the first two months of the season.

New Zealand's travel restrictions have delayed plans to rebrand Super Rugby, shifting to a format without South African teams while adding the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika.

The drop in fan interest coincided with too much administrator tinkering over the past decade, with finals formats failing to reflect results dominance when the three-conference system was being used.

It is hoped another relaunch will give everyone a chance to start over, and the Brumbies are firmly focused on transferring Australian success into Super Rugby Pacific.

That starts with ensuring they win games at home, with four of the first five matches in the capital before hitting the road and then facing New Zealand opponents from the end of April.

"How you do it isn't so important, but winning certainly is," McKellar said. "Especially when you've got four of the first five at home, you've got to build that momentum.

"That starts on Sunday afternoon, knowing we're going to come up against a really good side who have recruited well and pinched some of our boys.

"I think in the past we've probably got a little bit too excited too early. So now we're excited, but pretty calm and building into the week."

SUPER RUGBY ROUND ONE

Sunday: ACT Brumbies v Western Force at Canberra Stadium, 2pm.

Brumbies team: 1. James Slipper, 2. Folau Fainga'a, 3. Allan Alaalatoa (c), 4. Darcy Swain, 5. Cadeyrn Neville, 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Rory Scott, 8. Pete Samu, 9. Nic White, 10. Noah Lolesio, 11. Andy Muirhead, 12. Irae Simone, 13. Len Ikitau, 14. Tom Wright, 15. Tom Banks. Reserves: 16. Lachlan Lonergan, 17. Scott Sio, 18. Tom Ross, 19. Nick Frost, 20. Ed Kennedy, 21. Ryan Lonergan, 22. Ollie Sapsford, 23. Jesse Mogg.

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