James Dargaville believes the Brumbies are capable of playing the level of rugby required to beat the Hurricanes, it's just a matter of doing so when it matters most.
Dargaville has slotted in for the injured Aidan Toua without a hitch and pointed to two patches of rugby in particular which show the Brumbies can match it with arguably the best team in Super Rugby.
"Mentally, we know that we can go out there and put a performance on the field that will result in a win," Dargaville said.
"There was the half against the Reds where we blew them off the park, there were 25 minutes or so against the Hurricanes where we put three tries on them but it just hasn't eventuated in the last 10 minutes of these games so that's the thing that we need to work on.
"The issue is that it has been there but it just hasn't been there for 80 minutes."
The last time these two teams met, the 25 minutes that Dargaville referenced was arguably their best of 2017.
It spurned them onto a 21-14 half time lead but the second half was an entirely different story, as the Canes came out of the sheds and scored 42 unanswered points.
Plenty of those points were generated by counter attack and the Brumbies will look to their set piece in an attempt to limit opportunities for the Barrett brothers, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Julian Savea.
"I think when we saw on the weekend when we lost Cube, playing with 14 men against a good Kiwi side really does handicap you," he said.
"One of the aims of having a good set piece is that you take that counter attack out of the game.
"If we kick well, exit well and make our tackles, it will be a good contest."
While the winger wasn't comfortable in saying the Brumbies were now carrying the flame for a battered and bruised Australian Conference, he does hope a run through the finals would boost the spirits of the loyal fans.
"All the negative news around a team getting cut and the uncertainty has been tough on a lot of teams," he said.
"Hopefully we can move forward, get some wins on the board and go all the way to the final.
"It would be a really good story and a good result for Australian Super Rugby."
The Brumbies take on the Hurricanes on Friday night at GIO Stadium, kicking off at 7:45pm AEST, broadcast LIVE on FOX SPORTS and on RUGBY.com.au radio.
