A brutal opening day might just be a blessing in disguise for the Brumbies and Force as day two of the Brisbane Tens kicks off.
The two Australian franchises were the only teams to play three matches on the first day of pool matches, meaning they will have an easier run on finals day, with temperatures set to top a scorching day one.
With two wins from three under their belt on day one, the Brumbies look set for a quarter-final berth, meaning they will play three games at the most tomorrow
“Looking at the draw, if you win two games you're more than likely going through to the finals and we always want to have a successful competition, so we set out with that goal in mind,” he said.
“It's probably harder today for us - three games in the first day is very difficult,” he said.
“It's very difficult to manage the load of the players but I guess if you look back on it now, it's probably put us in a better position for tomorrow.”
The Force managed just the one win on day one and will be sweating on the recovery of Isi Naisarani, who was a standout for them in the opening matches.
Both naisarani and Mees Erasmus had head knocks in their pool games, with Erasmus already officially ruled out but Naisarani’s day two availability yet to be determined.
Force captain Heath Tessman was rested for their final game of the day, but felt the side had managed the extra load well.
“I think our S&C staff did a pretty good job of just making sure we kept moving,” he said.
“We recovered well after the games and obviously just need to stay hydrated as best you can on these days.”
Acting coach Kevin Foote said they would be ready to take things up a notch with just three games left at most.
“I think the guys have got a good experience out of this now and we probably haven't played our best rugby yet, so the good thing is going into finals, you (can) turn that around, it’s a good time to start peaking,” he said.
The quarter-finals kick off at 12:48pm AEST on Sunday, with the Tens final kicking off at 5:40pm AEST.
