Sio and Alaalatoa set for first Brumbies start, with Wallabies in sight

Sat, Apr 8, 2017, 2:00 AM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
He spent eight years in the nation's capital with the Brumbies but Stephen Moore will return to Canberra in Red for round seven of the Super Rugby. He takes on his two former club teammates and current Wallaby props Scott Sio and Alan Alaalatoa.

Allan Alaalatoa and Scott Sio will have their first chance to start together on Saturday night,  with loosehead prop hoping it one day happens in gold.

The childhood friends were competing for a loosehead spot this time last year, before Alaalatoa made the switch to the tighthead side.

“I’ve been trying to tell him, ‘hurry up and go over to the loosehead side, you’re putting too much pressure on me at loosehead’ but it’s great,” he laughed.

“I think he’s had a great start to the season and showing his stripes at tighthead there and locking down the scrum for us.”

Sio said it was a pairing that he would love to see translate into the Wallabies fold one day.

“For sure. You’ve got to set those goals as a rugby player and keep striving towards them,” he said.

“First step towards something like that starts this weekend and making sure we put in a good performance against a Reds front row who have been around a while.”

Allan Alaalatoa is one of four potential debutants. Photo: ARU Media/Stu WalmsleyBoth Sio and Alaalatoa learned plenty from former Brumbies captain Stephen Moore, one of the most influential figures in the Canberra forward pack as they were coming through.

They’ll have a chance to test those lessons against the man himself on Saturday night.

“I don’t know what his banter’s like at scrum time but I’ll throw a few jabs his way and see how he reacts,” he said.

“The referees already calling crouch, bind, set by the time we can say anything. See if I’ve got enough energy to throw a few jabs.

“I think I learned a lot ff him about the way to approach your preparation and how key it is during the week, making sure you get yourself ready and in the right mindset heading into a game.

“You can never count out his wealth of experience and how much he brings to a game in the crunch moments.”

Canberra will host the first major Wallabies catch up of the season following the match and it’s one Sio wants to be coming into with a smile on his face, but he’s not letting Test talk distract him.

“That’s (competition) there every year and I’ve learned to keep focusing on what I’m doing here and the rest of that will come,” he said.

The Brumbies host the Reds at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night, kicking off at 7:45pm AEST, LIVE on FOX SPORTS and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO from 7:30pm.

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