The ACT Brumbies will seek to end a 15-year drought against the Crusaders as they remain wary of the struggling powerhouse.
The Brumbies have not defeated the side since 2009 when Mark Gerrard scored late and Sterling Mortlock kicked a sideline conversion for an 18-16 win.
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Coach Stephen Larkham is one of few in the Brumbies organisation that has tasted success against the Crusaders, with the team's 2004 title win over their New Zealand rivals to be celebrated on Saturday.
“We’ve got a pretty bad track record against them but the guys that are playing on the weekend haven’t been a part of that," he told reporters.
“It’s certainly an opportunity and we got close last year with a team that we made a far few changes in, which was one of two earmarked games by Rugby Australia last year as opportunities to rest players that were competing in the World Cup.
“We made several changes leading into the Crusaders and we were still close but we were very disappointed coming out of that game. These guys have more recent disappointment but we’ve had a long period when the Crusaders have had it over us.”
Larkham drew plenty of similarities to last week's build-up against the Waratahs, wary of a Crusaders side that need victory to keep their finals dreams alive.
“They’re not far off eighth at the moment, only around four points providing results go their way but they’ve been close in a number of the games when you look at their season," he notes.
“They’re playing really good Rugby, it’s just not resulting in the wins each week.
“It’s a similar challenge to the Waratahs who we thought were playing well through the season but hadn’t got the wins and it’s also a traditional rivalry that the boys get up for every year.”
Flyhalf Noah Lolesio returns to the starting side, missing the win over the Waratahs due to a head knock.
Nick Frost moves to blindside flanker with Rob Valetini shifting to his favoured number eight, with Charlie Cale ruled out with an ankle sprain
