Brumbies and Wallaroos legend Shellie Milward believes the club are entering Friday's clash with the Reds with a point to prove after their shock 17-all draw to the Rebels.
Whilst the Rebels have been a 'bogey' side in the past for the Brumbies, the ACT-side started strong in the first half, enjoying over 70% territory and possession in the opening 20 minutes.
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However, a lack of execution came back to hurt them, with late tries to Ashley Marsters and Eirenei Nanai allowing Georgia Cormick to put both sides level after 80 minutes.
“It’s been a tough one to swallow,” Milward told reporters.
“We know we’re better than what we put out on the pitch on Friday night.
“The Rebels are always our bogey team. You never know what you are going to get. They’ve got some powerhouses in that team like little G (Georgia Cormack) so we know we can’t take a rest but we didn’t complete our processes and systems.
“We didn’t lose but to come away with the draw, it probably wasn’t good enough for our expectations.”
This leaves the Brumbies without a victory for 2022 following their narrow defeat to the Waratahs.
With the top three teams qualifying for the finals, it makes Friday's clash against the Reds near must-win with games against the Force in WA and the ladder-leading Fijiana Drua to follow.
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The third-place Reds enter the contest with their own motivation, reeling after their defeat to Fijiana.
Milward refused to look too far into the Reds' defeat, confident it will spark them into action as both teams look to keep their finals aspirations alive.
“You can’t take anything away from the Reds in that game, Fijiana came out firing in the competition,” she admitted.
“The Reds aren’t a team to take lightly. They’ve proven in the past they are contenders for the title and I think that losing to Fijiana will ignite that fire in their belly for them and they’ll step up another level.
“It’ll be a really strong contest with both teams coming off tough losses and with something to prove.”
