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Brumbies wary of 'typical South African' Sharks

Canberra - The Brumbies head into Saturday's Super Rugby quarter-final against the Sharks as clear favourites, but coach Dan McKellar has warned his team not to get ahead of themselves as they target a third title.

The Australian franchise have won eight of their past nine games, including seven in a row at Canberra Stadium.

In contrast, the Sharks only just squeezed into the final eight after a last-gasp win over the Stormers completed an unconvincing run to the playoffs.

Despite this, McKellar is wary ahead of the sudden-death match, which could be the last for inspirational captain Christian Lealiifano who is leaving for Japan at the end of the season.

Fellow Brumbies stars David Pocock, Rory Arnold, Sam Carter and Henry Speight are also departing the franchise when the campaign ends.

McKellar pointed to the Durban outfit drawing with the mighty Crusaders in Christchurch and beating a number of sides on the road.

"They're the only team that has come away with points out of Christchurch for a long time," he said. "So, one off game - they're going to be dangerous.

"Typical South African side, big men, set piece, speed on the edges, so we're well aware of their threats but we'll continue to focus on getting our performance right."

McKellar has made four changes to the team that defeated the Reds 40-27 last weekend, with Speight passed fit to reclaim the right-wing spot.

Toni Pulu returns to the left wing forming a potent back three alongside Tom Banks.

The other changes are in the back-row where Tom Cusack and Pete Samu return to the starting XV alongside Rob Valetini, with loose forwards Lachlan McCaffrey and Jahrome Brown providing power and impact from the replacements bench.

"It's about keeping our standards super high and not getting ahead of ourselves and it's been working really well," Lealiifano told reporters Friday.

"We're keeping it normal this week and training hard and making sure we're doing the right things to put ourselves in a position to play well."

The Brumbies beat the Sharks to win the 2001 title and have never lost a playoff to a South African side. They also won the competition in 2004.

Should they win on Saturday and the Jaguares defeat the Chiefs in Buenos Aires, the Australians will travel to Argentina for their semi-final.

If the Chiefs and Brumbies are successful, the New Zealanders will be the opposition in Canberra.

Saturday's clash is scheduled for 12:05 (SA time).

Teams:

Brumbies

15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Irae Simone, 11 Toni Pulu, 10 Christian Lealiifano (captain), 9 Joe Powell, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Tom Cusack, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga'a, 1 Scott Sio

Substitutes: 16 Connal McInerney, 17 James Slipper, 18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Jahrome Brown, 22 Matt Lucas, 23 Tom Wright

Sharks

15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder (captain), 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Mzamo Majola
 
Substitutes: 16 Cullen Collopy, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Luke Stringer, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Rhyno Smith

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