Will Genia has made his case for inclusion in the Wallabies squad that will travel to Europe next week with a strong 40-minute performance in Brisbane City’s 37-16 win over the Canberra Vikings in the National Rugby Championship (NRC).

Genia kicked well from the base of the ruck, delivered crisp passes and found himself on the end of a sweeping City movement which sealed victory and third place in the championship.

Brisbane City will travel to face the second-placed NSW Country Eagles on Friday night in the semi-finals, after the Eagles’ tight 40-34 win over the Perth Spirit in Dubbo.

The Eagles led 24-8 at halftime and 40-18 inside the final quarter but two late tries had the celebrations on hold.

The Melbourne Rising earned hosting rights with their 47-26 win over Queensland Country at AAMI Park.

The undefeated Melbourne outfit again looked a class above in the 21-point win, as they outpaced, outmuscled and outworked a surprisingly resilient Country side.

The Rising led 34-13 with 30 minutes to play and seemingly cruised through the second term, making it eight wins from eight starts in 2014.

Melbourne will face Perth at AAMI Park on Saturday night and will be heavy favourites against a Spirit side who will not bring their Western Force representatives on the road – a policy they have adopted all season.

On Thursday night, the Sydney Stars broke their season-long drought with a 49-40 win over the North Harbour Rays.

The nine-point margin was aided by rugby’s first “own try” when Rays prop Mitch Lewis grounded the ball over his own line and the Stars were awarded a try in bizarre circumstances.

The Stars’ only win of the season means each team finishes the inaugural NRC campaign with at least one victory.