The high-flying Brumbies are fearing an Australian Conference ambush after the June Test break, but a besieged NSW insist ruining Jake White’s Super Rugby party isn’t their motivation.
The Brumbies sit five points clear of defending champions Queensland at the top of the local pool, as the entire competition is put on hold for four weeks while international matches are played.
When they return at the end of the month, the ACT-based side face danger derby matches away against the Western Force in Perth and the Waratahs in Sydney before finishing with a home clash with the last-placed Blues.
Based on the ladder and performances this season, the Brumbies should do it easy, but coach White knows their wounded Aussie rivals in particular will be out to get them.
The South African World Cup-winning coach said his players would be up for the challenge.
“It’s not that I’m downplaying it to be smart – it’s just that it’s such a tough comp,” said White, who watched his team account for Melbourne 27-19 on Friday.
“We’ve got three games left and there’s a lot of teams that are now taking us seriously.
“We’re going to have to play well in order to get to those playoffs.”
Queensland have a comparable but perhaps less intense run-in, playing Melbourne away and finishing with the Highlanders and Waratahs on home soil in Brisbane.
The Reds, who along with the Force enjoyed a bye weekend, are in ninth place and in a log-jam with four teams vying for the last wildcard berth in the finals.
Ewen McKenzie’s side’s best chance could be if the Brumbies do stumble and they can overtake them for first in the Australian conference and gain automatic entry to the finals.
The Waratahs’ 33-12 capitulation at the hands of the Hurricanes on Saturday brought up a record sixth-straight defeat, with NSW in the midst of one of their worst seasons.
Waratahs’ enforcer Wycliff Palu said personal pride rather than the chance to rain on the parade of fierce rivals the Brumbies and Reds would be their motivation.
“Nothing changes from the start of the year to where we are now – we go out there to win every game,” Palu told AAP.
“It doesn’t matter because it’s the Aussie teams or we’re trying to stuff up their party or whatever.”
Under-pressure coach Michael Foley and senior players Palu and Tatafu Polota-Nau said they would welcome the chance to have a break from a season where they’ve lost an unprecedented 10 matches.
“There’s a hell of a lot of learning out of it,” Foley said.
“(The time off) gives us a mental break … come back a little bit reinvigorated and hopefully not carrying the baggage.”
The Chiefs escaped with a narrow 41-34 win over the Blues to stay on top of Super Rugby.
The Crusaders, who hammered the Highlanders 51-18, are seven points shy of the Chiefs in the New Zealand conference but are in fourth spot overall, while the Hurricanes moved into sixth after beating the ‘Tahs for the first time since 2006.
The Stormers won the battle of the South African heavyweights 19-14 over the Bulls and are in outright second on the ladder, while the Lions climbed off the bottom of the table by upsetting the Sharks.
