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Cape Town - When the Brumbies went down 25-24 to the Stormers at Newlands last month, there were bodies strewn all over the turf at the end of the match.
It was one of the more physical battles that Super Rugby had seen in the 2015 season, with on and off the ball niggle plaguing the battle.
The Australians are in Cape Town once more, preparing for another Newlands tussle, but this time the stakes are far higher. A place in the semi-finals awaits, and Brumbies prop Ben Alexander is expecting an even tougher battle.
The 30-year-old has 115 Super Rugby caps for the franchise that he has been a part of since 2008, and he has seen enough over the years to know that one of the Stormers’ key strengths is their scrum.
WATCH: ALEXANDER ON STORMERS PLAYOFF
“It’s not one thing or the other it’s a combination of quite a few things. They’re very well drilled and they’re obviously very string guys,” Alexander said of the Stormers’ scrummaging prowess.
“You look at the size of quite a few of them and they’re big blokes but they’re also committing to it and doing a great job. Tactically, they’re pretty sound as well so they’re the complete scrum.”
Alexander added that having been in Cape Town so recently would stand his side in good stead.
“Everyone knows what to expect … we’ve got a lot of guys that have finals experience. But, also, Newlands is a unique atmosphere and a unique stadium and we’ve got a lot of guys with recent experience of what that’s like, so that helps,” he said.
“We had a Test match-like match last time we played them, which was an incredibly physical game, and we know this is going to be up a notch. It’s exciting – a semi-final in South Africa – it’s very exciting.”
Kick-off on Saturday is at 17:05.
