They have been fierce rivals in recent seasons but the Brumbies believe the Reds have provided them with the template to spring a major upset in the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Brumbies advanced to the semis with a thrilling 37-33 victory over the Hurricanes in Canberra, as referee Nic Berry and TMO Brett Cronan contentiously ruled that Ardie Savea had not grounded the ball for a match-winning try in the 85th minute.
The minor premier Chiefs also survived a scare on home soil before kicking clear late in a 29-20 quarter-final win to end Brad Thorn’s coaching tenure with Queensland.
Watch the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific finals on the home of rugby, Stan Sport. All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand
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The Reds are the only team to have beaten the Chiefs this season – winning 25-22 in New Plymouth in May – and again bothered the Mooloo men with a kick-heavy approach.
“I think we can take a little bit out of what the Reds have done, their two games,” Brumbies assistant coach Laurie ‘Lord’ Fisher told Stan Sport.
“I felt the Reds’ long kicking game, if you stay in that kick battle, choose your right time to run and just defend well, you give yourself every chance. So strong set-piece, the basics of the game but we’ve got a good record over in Hamilton, the last decade or so.”
The Chiefs beat the Brumbies 31-21 in Canberra in May but captain Nic White also took heart from Queensland’s performance.
“I was watching the (Chiefs-Reds) game today, having half an eye on the potentials and we feel like we’ve got a game plan that can really take it to them,” White said.
“There’s no better challenge, that’s the one you want. We’ll enjoy this tonight and then we’re pretty keen for it… to get over there and throw the kitchen sink.”
Luke Reimer, Jack Debreczeni and Ollie Sapsford were three unsung heroes for the Brumbies, who will be sweating on the fitness of Corey Toole for the trip to Hamilton.
White is likely to retain the armband as relieved coach Stephen Larkham confirmed regular skipper Allan Alaalatoa (calf) was unlikely to recover in time.
“Allan’s calendar is a little bit more serious than Tooley’s,” Larkham said.
“He’s improving every day but I don’t think it’s going to be there for him.”
The Brumbies also qualified for last year’s semis and were beaten 20-19 by the Blues in a heartbreaking finish at Eden Park.
“I just keep thinking back to the 2003 World Cup where we won the semi-final and we thought it was the best thing ever,” Larkham told Stan Sport.
“And then we got rolled the next week. So we’ll definitely enjoy tonight, but we’ll make sure we’re focused.”
Across the ditch, meanwhile, Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan argued his team would benefit from a scratchy performance against the Reds.
“Everybody, including all of our fans, would have loved us to have run away with the game. But I reckon we’ll learn more from this,” McMillan said.
“If we’d won by 20 points, I think our week might have looked a bit different… just probably mindset. This will just bring a bit of an edge, and a realness, around finals footy. Sometimes it’s not going to be pretty but you’ve just got to get the job done.
“For a whole number of reasons, being put under pressure today, I think will be really good for us in the long run.”
There were a whopping 91 kicks in the game against the Reds.
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“That’s astronomical,” McMillan said.
“They obviously came with a clear plan. And it wasn’t like we were losing the kick tennis battle, but we probably just needed to hold onto the ball a little bit more and then force them to start making some tackles and put them under a little bit of pressure.”
Thorn, who is now taking a break from coaching after six years at the Reds, made no apologies for overseeing a kick-heavy game plan.
“Field position is important… but it’s around smart kicking,” Thorn said.
“That’s a component, for me, I’m an ex-league player, but rugby, if it was in the Olympics, it’s like the decathlon. The scrum battle, the kicking battle, the lineout battle, defence, attack, whatever, there’s all these battles inside that make a great game of rugby, and they were competed well tonight in all areas.”
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC SEMI-FINALS
Friday, 5.05pm kick-off AEST: Crusaders (2) vs Blues (3) in Christchurch
Saturday, 5.05pm kick-off AEST: Chiefs (1) vs Brumbies (4) in Hamilton
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