THE ACT Brumbies, featuring Bomaderry's Harriet Elleman and Narrawalle's Grace Sullivan, will be sweating on the fitness of Rebecca Smyth for their clash with the two-time Super W premiers after the Wallaroo suffered a suspected broken nose.
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Smyth clashed heads with teammate Emi Masi during the second half of their grinding 25-22 win over the Melbourne Rebels in Ballarat on Saturday.
She came off in the 53rd minute with a bloody nose and received a blue card for a suspected concussion, meaning she will need medical clearance to play against the NSW Waratahs on Friday.
The loss of Smyth could be a major blow for Adam Butt's side, given debutante Krystal Fyfe has been ruled out of the season with a back injury.
"It's a concern - we'll recover early this week before building up to Friday night," Butt said.
"Rebecca is in good spirits, she got blue carded so I'd say she misses a week now.
"There's some sore bodies after the match, so we'll check the recovery room this week.
"We're looking forward to the Waratahs, it's another opportunity to show where we are and we know it's going to be a big test."
Smyth continued her flying start to the four-game Super W campaign, scoring the opening try in the seventh minute before the Brumbies ground out the win.
The Brumbies looked like they were going to cruise to the victory when Taeli Wilson ran onto a delicate pass from Ella Ryan to crash over the line and extend their lead to 17-3.
But that's where their charge stalled.
The Brumbies struggled to maintain possession and were hit with a ferocious Rebels onslaught.
They survived a 14-phase attack early in the second-half but it was only a matter of time before Melanie Kawa and Ash Walker levelled the score.
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Brumbies fullback Sammie Wood took advantage of an offside penalty in the 73rd minute and put the game to bed with a conversion.
"It was a good effort, it was messy but we got it done in the end," Wood said.
"When I set the penalty I was very certain it was my time to kick it over the bar.
"We let them into the game, we didn't play our best.
"Come next week, we'll have a lot to reflect and work on pressing into NSW.
"Our biggest thing is ball retention, we just didn't have the ball enough.
"When we were in our green zone, we were unstoppable but we just had to get into that area."
