Gotta say that Ben O’Donnell is such a special player to watch after his hat-trick scoring brace tonight v Fijian Drua on the Brumbies wide left at No.11. He possesses so much pace & power every time he links up with the attack, which means that Ben has the licence to thrill once he has the ball on hand where he beat a few defenders along the way. Glad he’s lighting up at GIO Stadium with Stephen Larkham where he’s been following his boss around straight from Connacht over in Ireland since mid-2020. Now with a mix of 7s & Euro experience at his prime (age 27), he’s ready to do more damage by providing decent competition to Corey Toole (currently injured) on the wings.
Next up is reserve No.8 Luke Reimer off the bench where he helped the Brumbies keep their lead against the dangerous Drua side tonight. He has been an excellent backup to Pete Samu who is in his prime right now (age 31), having put his body on the line to save his team from danger & make the Drua fumble with excellent physicality as well as his height too. He’s such a great player to watch by reading through the opposition body language while being vocal when Drua were so desperate & hesitant before Luke can be a useful attacking force that helped safeguard the Brumbies with the win. He’s happy to be here (age 22) by pushing on & learning from Pete before making a name for himself every week.
And Teti Tela has been excellent who provided lots of creativity with Super Rugby experience for the Fijian Drua at No.10. He might not be tall but knows how to get the job done with excellent physical strength, particularly where to draw his men in with support before his side were able to get past the Brumbies blocks with a couple of tries on the board including one for himself just at half-time. Teti never stopped doing this when Drua were almost within the Brumbies radar for the lead at one point all thanks to his hard work. But then a couple of denied TRY opportunities unfortunately gave the Brumbies the chance to capitalise and they have done it towards the end of the game with the loss.