A 23-man effort will be needed for the Brumbies to keep their Super Rugby Pacific season alive on Saturday night, but captain Allan Alaalatoa says that’s exactly what he’ll get from his troops.
The Brumbies host the Hurricanes in a quarter-final rematch of their round 11 clash.
On that occasion, the Brumbies won 42-25 and they are looking for their first playoff win against a New Zealand-based opponent since 2014.
That’s hardly a surprising statistic given New Zealand sides have won every international version of the tournament since the NSW Waratahs’ triumph in 2014.
But far from daunted, Alaalatoa called on his players to get the basics right and take it up to their talented foe.
“With finals footy, we just don’t need to overthink it, as an individual you just need to do your job as best you can and contribute to the team as much as you can,” he told reporters.
“That’s the reason why we’re here, a lot of individuals have put their hand up throughout the season, we’ve had to use our whole squad … that’s the message we’re going to continue to give, to go out there and back ourselves.”
The skipper admitted his side must learn from last week’s defeat to bottom-ranked Moana Pasifika, but said a similar intensity to what they showed in narrow defeats to top sides Blues and Crusaders in previous weeks would hold them in good stead.
“It was a reminder about turning up and wanting to win the collision,” Alaalatoa said of the Moana loss.
“We definitely take out of the games we’ve played here, that intensity we were playing at was finals footy, but there were even some great learnings for us last week as well.
“There’s a huge amount of belief this week, some great energy and vibes getting around.”
The Brumbies recall James Slipper and Folau Fainga’a up front to their starting line-up, along with forwards Cadeyrn Neville, Tom Hooper and Luke Reimer.
They’ll once again be without Wallabies forward Rob Valetini, who’s still battling a hamstring injury that’s kept him out of the Brumbies’ last three games.
The Hurricanes enter of a surprise defeat too, having fallen to the Western Force last weekend, although they do get back Ardie Savea at No.8 and Jordie Barrett at centre.
By Alex Mitchell in Canberra
