Bent on redemption, the ACT Brumbies concede they've been waiting almost a year to right some wrongs in Saturday night's Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final against the Highlanders.
Coach Stephen Larkham says the Brumbies' elimination at the hands of the Chiefs in Hamilton last year is driving the side's shot at the 2024 title.
"It's been a long time since last year. We were very disappointed after the semi-final ... and it was a long time at the back of that game to the start of Super Rugby this year," he said.
"We've worked really hard throughout the year and there's a lot of excitement in the room."
The Brumbies enter the knockout match as hot favourites following an unbeaten campaign at home during the regular season and a 27-21 round-four victory over the Highlanders, despite a gruelling travel schedule to Dunedin.
But Larkham insists his side must match the New Zealanders physically to prevail again in front of their Canberra home fans at GIO Stadium.
"The boys came out of that game pretty bruised, pretty beaten up, and we're expecting much of the same," he said.
"Their forward pack is pretty dominant with their carries, with their tackles and around the breakdown, so we're prepping for that.
"They've also got some really dangerous players in the backline, sort of from nine to 15 they're all very handy with ball in hand.
"And when you come to finals, there's going to be some unpredictability ... and there's going to be a little bit more pressure, and no doubt the game is going to be very tight.
"The back end of the game, that last 15, 20 minutes, is going to be the telling period."
The Brumbies, who finished third and can still nab a home semi-final if either the second-placed Blues or table-topping Hurricanes slip up this weekend, have recognised discipline has been an issue in recent weeks.
"We've spoken about it. It's in front of mind for the players," Larkham said.
"We've had a couple of weeks now where our discipline hasn't been where it's needed to be.
"It's always a fine line ... where we need to be defensively so that we're not offside.
"It's really just an effort area."
Highlanders coach Clarke Dermody isn't taking much out of the last-up meeting with the Brumbies.
"It was a real high error rate from both teams; went up around the 40 per cent mark, so that's not going to be good enough coming into the playoffs," he said.
"We're well aware of how we need to play against the Brumbies, and it's just a matter of if we can put them under enough pressure."
Dermody also hopes his side's last-round 41-14 shellacking at the hands of the Hurricanes proves a wake-up call.
"It wasn't the best result last time out against the Hurricanes. No, it wasn't a good result at all," he said.
"We knew obviously the Hurricanes were top of the table and wanting to finish top of the table.
"They are a powerful team ... so what we take out of it is when you're playing the best teams, your game is going to be 100 per cent.
"So that's sort of what we've been driving this week. We're fully aware of the challenge that's coming.
"We know we're facing traditionally the best Australian team for since I was playing, so we know exactly what we need to bring."
