Breakdown beast Cadeyrn Neville says the ACT Brumbies have to "destroy" the Crusaders' attacking maul if they are to achieve a feat the club hasn't seen since a golden era.
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The Brumbies are chasing four Kiwi scalps in a regular season for the first time since 2004 heading into a Super Rugby Pacific showdown at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.
The home side's rolling maul and set piece will form a vital part of their game plan, but Neville says the Brumbies will have to be ferocious on both sides of the ball.
"Thankfully our maul is coming back to us at the right end of the competition," Neville said.
"It's obviously somewhere we're going to go at them on both sides of the ball because they've got a good attacking maul as well and we want to destroy it. Our scrum is also starting to do some damage as well, it's a huge part of our game if we get all that right."
MORE RUGBY UNION
The 33-year-old lock has signed a contract extension as he chases a maiden Test cap with the Wallabies in July's looming Test series against England.
The deal keeps Neville in Canberra until the end of 2023, with the Manly product enjoying a new lease on his rugby career with the Brumbies having joined the club ahead of the 2020 season.
"It's been probably one of the best chapters of my career and my life down here," Neville said.
"It took a little bit of time to consider what else I could do but I shut it down after not too long and committed to another year."
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC ROUND 13
Friday: ACT Brumbies v Canterbury Crusaders at Canberra Stadium, 7.45pm. Tickets from Ticketek. Broadcast live on Stan Sport.
Brumbies team: 1. James Slipper, 2. Lachlan Lonergan, 3. Allan Alaalatoa (c), 4. Darcy Swain, 5. Cadeyrn Neville, 6. Tom Hooper, 7. Jahrome Brown, 8. Pete Samu, 9. Nic White, 10. Rod Iona, 11. Andy Muirhead, 12. Irae Simone, 13. Len Ikitau, 14. Tom Wright, 15. Tom Banks. Reserves: 16. Folau Fainga'a, 17. Scott Sio, 18. Tom Ross, 19. Nick Frost, 20. Luke Reimer, 21. Rory Scott, 22. Ryan Lonergan, 23. Ollie Sapsford.
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Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
