Stephen Larkham admits the Brumbies’ Super Rugby season has run off the rails and they face a daunting task to get it back on track in South Africa.
The coach said the Australian conference leaders had endured a “pretty bad run” the past four weeks, with losses to the Blues, Melbourne Rebels and NSW Waratahs.
Despite being third overall, they’ll need to beat the Stormers in Cape Town this weekend and Lions in Johannesburg next week to ensure they don’t fall out of finals contention.
“It’s tough to come to South Africa and win … but we’re certainly focused over here,” Larkham said.
“This last month has probably derailed the season a little bit and we’ve got to get back on track.
“The last two weeks, we’ve probably had better performances than against the Blues and the Rebels … but we didn’t come away with the points last week (against the Waratahs), so there’s a little bit of detail still lacking in our game.
“(But) the focus is certainly in the group at the moment to turn our season around.”
The Brumbies haven’t won in Cape Town since 2010, nor have they strung together two victories while on tour in South Africa since 2007.
In tandem with their poor record, Larkham said the shortened week due to travel, jetlag and a vocal local crowd would make breaking that drought a tough task.
“All of those factors put together can be daunting on the players,” he said.
“Provided we hold our heads, I think we’ll have a better shot at winning.”
The Canberra-based franchise have done a fair bit of research on the Stormers, who are also keen to reignite their season after their last-start loss to the Cheetahs.
Larkham has identified their inconsistent lineouts as one area of focus.
“They’ve had a string of poor games with their lineout,” he added.
“They’re going to shorter lineouts because they’re not being as consistent as they need to.
“We’ve looked at it, definitely.”
The Brumbies will welcome back Wallabies halfback Nic White, who was sidelined for three weeks with an ankle injury.
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