Powerhouse hooker Huia Edmonds is expected to replace his injured Wallaby teammate Stephen Moore when Super Rugby's struggling Brumbies host their NSW neighbours on Saturday week.

Compounding the Brumbies' 52-10 demolition by New Zealand's Crusaders last week was the loss of Wallaby veteran Moore who has 55 caps.

He's likely to be out of action for at least six weeks with syndesmosis of the left ankle - the latest addition to the Brumbies' mounting casualty list that includes Mitchell Chapman (broken jaw) and Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom (hamstring).

The Brumbies' Wallaby prop Ben Alexander says the hooking pair have contrasting styles, but Edmonds would bring something special to the role, with local hooker Daniel Hegarty moving to the bench.

"Moore is world class, he is one of the best hookers in the world," said Alexander on Thursday at the Brumbies' first training session since the drubbing in Nelson.

"We will miss Steve's leadership and his physicality around the side but obviously Huia brings something else as well.

"His line-breaking ability and the way he reads the game is second to none for a hooker."

Alexander insists the Brumbies must lift their intensity in defence or incur more results like the thumping loss to the Crusaders.

He said the Brumbies dropped their guard to concede three tries in the first 10 minutes of the second half against the Crusaders after heading into the break trailing 19-10.

"We can't defend how we went in that first part (of the second half) and it spiralled," Alexander said.

"They got a roll on and the way we rolled over in that bit was really disappointing."

He said the Brumbies allowed the Crusaders to dominate the breakdown and the Christchurch-based side thrived on turnovers.

Alexander said the Canberra-based side had two weeks to correct the mistakes because of a bye this weekend.

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