The biggest challenge in club rugby is awaiting the ACT Brumbies, and halfback Nic White says his side couldn’t be more keen for it.
Fresh from holding on for a nail-biting 37-33 quarter-final win against the Hurricanes, the Brumbies will now head to New Zealand and battle the league-leading Chiefs in a semi-final to again try and keep their season alive.
They haven’t won either of their games in NZ this season, lost 31-21 to the Chiefs in Canberra a month ago and were knocked out across the ditch at the exact same stage last year, but White was already raring to go less than an hour after their Hurricanes win.
“There’s no better challenge, that’s the one you want,” he said.
“Coming into this game, watching the footy today and seeing who the potential lineups are gonna be, you’re hoping you get a chance to go over and test yourself.
“That’s what we want to be prepping for all year. We’ll enjoy this tonight and then we’re pretty keen for it.”
ACT coach Stephen Larkham confirmed captain Allan Alaalatoa was extremely unlikely to feature in the semi-final but said winger Corey Toole remained a chance, progressing well while rehabilitating an ankle knock from their last regular season game.
“All of that is too soon to say,” he said.
“(Toole) has tracked pretty well this week, but he’s on a rehab program and he’s got to tick everything off every day … we’ll wait and see how he turns up on Monday and Tuesday.
“Allan’s calendar is a little bit more serious than Tooley’s … he’s improving every day, but I don’t think it’s going to be there for him.”
White reflected on their narrow win against the Hurricanes, were the Brumbies were outstanding early in racing to a 25-16 halftime lead, before having to go and win the game again after conceding 17 straight points early in the second term.
“It kind of had everything that game,” he said.
“The regular season was a chance for us to get a lot of tests and learn from them, and then when the test of finals footy has come we’re ready for it.
“The second half, we came out and had to adapt pretty quickly because things weren’t going right but we were composed … we know teams are gonna have their moments and we’re just gonna find ways to adapt, to be robust.
“(We will) celebrate this over the next little while and then rest, recover and get stuck into review, because (there’s) plenty to learn from, look at and preview, and get over there and throw the kitchen sink.”
By Alex Mitchell in Canberra
