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Opinion
The Brumbies have played Super Rugby finals in more years than they haven’t but there are still a few funny little tidbits to be found in their history.
I knew they’d lost their last finals appearance over the ditch, because I made the tip to Wellington in 2015 myself, and they’d obviously lost the 2013 final in Hamilton as well. And I watched them lose the 1997 final in Auckland in a pub somewhere, less than 12 months after I’d moved to Canberra.
But it wasn’t until delving into the history books on Sunday for an ABC Sport TV story that I realised the enormity of the task in front of them this weekend in Auckland.
I had a fair idea that they’d not won a finals game in Auckland, and indeed, they lost both the 1997 Final and 2003 semi. But it’s a bit more than that. In five attempts over the whole 27-year history of Super Rugby, the Brumbies haven’t won one finals game in New Zealand.
I mean, they’re two from two in South Africa just in the last ten years!
But there’s anything but a fear of crossing the ditch this weekend, to face the Blues in Auckland. Indeed, they expect they will get the job done and win through to a ninth final. There’s a determination about them already.
Hearing them speak after the game on Saturday night, that belief is as clear as it is obvious. I interviewed Nic White out on the field after the match during our radio call, asked him three short questions and he spoke for six minutes! Super keen, super excited, super pumped to extend the season by at least one more week.
The Brumbies were annoyed to let the late try in before halftime, but the Hurricanes saw that as due reward. The tide certainly turned in the second half though, with the Brumbies getting far more impact from a far more experienced bench, and that reflected in the visitors’ comments post-match.
“Through that second half, we gave the Brumbies the opportunities to get the field position they wanted, probably through some of our errors,” Jason Holland said in the press conference
“But that’s knockout footy really, you do things really well for 45, 50 minutes and that’s not enough.”
They were interesting comments at the time, but not nearly as interesting as they were when I finally got around to watching the full match replay on Sunday night.
“Ideally, we’re doing less of it in the second half on the back of good discipline. If we can win the territory battle, get some possession – as we’ve seen, we’ll hurt them if we get to the right end of the field,” Dan McKellar said at half time on the Stan Sport coverage, in response to the question of their defence holding up well in the first half, bar the slip-up that let fullback Josh Moorby in for his second try just before the break.
So what Holland saw as the ‘Canes biggest issue as the game got away from them after the break, was exactly what McKellar said needed to happen as his team ran out for the second half.
And there were obviously other factors, too; TJ Perenara certainly didn’t look as though he was 100 percent fit, and Jordie Barrett going off for an HIA didn’t help, either. In the ten or so minutes both of those dominant figures were off, the Hurricanes’ shape fell apart completely. In the fifteen or so minutes Barrett was off, the Brumbies added 10 points to lead by three – and Noah Lolesio pushed a second penalty wide, as well.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Post-match, McKellar and skipper Allan Ala’alatoa were quick to credit the impact of their bench over the last half an hour, and of how they resolved on the run while a man down by leaving as many players as possible standing in the defensive line, rather than committing to the ruck.
But with the eye to next week, the determination came through in their words.
McKellar: “We go to Auckland really confident. We felt we should have won that game a couple of weeks ago, and there’s an enormous amount of respect for them, they’ve got threats across the park, but we feel we’ve got the game to challenge them, and we’ll prepare for that well all week.”
Ala’alatoa: “It’s just the beginning for us. A huge challenge next week, and a lot of belief that we need to build from this game, but just do what we need to do this week and go over with a huge amount of confidence.”
Unbeknownst to us in the press conference at the time, the Brumbies mentor had clearly impressed former Wallabies coach, turned Stan Sport analyst Michael Cheika with a similar sentiment 10 or 15 minutes earlier.
“It’ll be no different. You look at tonight’s game, and the conditions, there is a lot of dew around; Auckland will be the same,” McKellar said of the approach for the semi-final at Eden Park.
“It’s a grind, isn’t it, finals football. There’s not a lot of pretty rugby being played, so we go over there really confident.”
Watching it back on Sunday, you could see Cheika’s ears prick up as McKellar said it.
“He’s got to plan already, he said it just there: finals football is a grind,” Cheika said.
“I think about it in some different ways, but if you think about the matchup coming, that’s exactly what he wants.
“Because the Blues don’t want to grind. They want power, explosiveness, they want balls out the back and Beauden Barrett running into holes, and if the Brumbies can turn it into a grind, it can really, really work in their favour.
“The coach seems to have it in his mind already, and that means he’s got the formation already and that foundation of how he wants to try and win that semi-final next weekend.”
Pete Samu of the Brumbies makes a break. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Of course, saying it is one thing but doing it is another thing altogether.
But it’s interesting to hear an Australian side speaking not just of going over there and wanting to compete, but of going over there confident they have the plans already in place to get the job done.
The Brumbies beat the Chiefs well in Hamilton back in Round 12, and are definitely still smarting from the loss to Moana Pacifika at Mount Smart in the last round before the finals.
Their set piece is functioning well, they breakdown work is strong and Laurie Fisher was raving about their collision dominance after fulltime on Saturday night. They’ve made changes to their lineout every week this year and have used 34 players – but haven’t introduced a new player since Round 7. Everyone knows their role.
So now, they just have to go ‘over there’ and get on with it.
But already, it’s clear it won’t be for a lack of effort or desire.