Brumbies vs Hurricanes Prediction: Ala’alatoa return to aid Brumbies hopes

Two of the top three in the Super Rugby standings meet on Saturday, when the Brumbies and Hurricanes square off in Canberra.

The Hurricanes are top of the league after winning their first eight games but this will be arguably their toughest test to date.

The Brumbies have won three out of three at home this season and will be strengthened by the return of an Australian international this weekend.

Team News

Wallabies prop Allan Alaalatoa has been included in the Brumbies' squad for the first time since June after rupturing a tendon in his left knee.

The Brumbies also welcome back centre Len Ikitau into the fray alongside Tamati Tua.

Scrum-half Ryan Lonergan will continue as captain despite Alaalatoa’s comeback. James Slipper and Billy Pollard join the returnee in the front row.

Clark Laidlaw has made seven changes to the side who thumped the Fijian Drua last week for what is the Hurricanes’ 400^th Super Rugby fixture.

Outside centre Peter Umaga-Jensen will make his first start of the season while Brayden Iose is included at loose forward.

The other five changes see returns for props Xavier Numia and Tyrel Lomax, lock Caleb Delany, fly-half Brett Cameron and outside back Ruben Love.

Match Odds

Brumbies are 9/5 to win - or a 35.7% chance - while Hurricanes are 4/9, and the draw is 18/1.

Brumbies to win @ 9/5

10 points now separate the Hurricanes and Brumbies in the Super Rugby standings after contrasting Week Nine fortunes.

The Hurricanes were 38-15 winners on the road at Fijian Drua last week while the Brumbies were sunk 46-7 by the Blues, who currently sit between the pair in the table.

The Brumbies are three from three at their Gio Stadium base, however, with victories recorded over the Waratahs, Moana Pasifika and the Western Force.

The hosts reached the Super Rugby semi-finals last season and are handed a major boost on the injury front ahead of Saturday's huge ANZAC Round showdown.

Prop Allan Alaalatoa has been sidelined since before the World Cup after rupturing a tendon in his left knee injury.

The 30-year-old, who has made 66 appearances for the Wallabies, has been included in the squad for the first time since June.

It was the Brumbies who came out on top in the last encounter between the two sides with a 37-33 success in the Australian capital in last season’s quarter-finals.

Playing in searing heat against a physical Fijian Drua in Suva will have taken a lot out of the Hurricanes, so it is understandable that they have made seven changes.

They are now preparing to face a wounded Brumbies team, who will want to make up for a poor performance at Eden Park last week.

The head-to-head stats certainly favour the hosts, with the Aussie side beating their New Zealand rivals in four of their last five meetings.

The points average in those encounters is 31-25 in the Brumbies' favour and, with a point to prove after last week's horror show, the hosts could end the Hurricanes' winning start to the campaign.

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