The Brumbies are embracing the chance to reunite with club legend Christian Leali'ifano, albeit with the flyhalf on the opposite side of the field as they run out at Mt Smart Stadium.
Saturday's clash will mark the first time Leali'ifano will come up against his old side after his return to Super Rugby with the expansion franchise.
Originally slated to kick off Super Rugby Pacific, the change in the draw gave the Brumbies plenty of time to get comfortable with seeing the 34-year-old in different colours.
This hasn't stopped prop Scott Sio from throwing a few cheeky barbs at his old teammate whilst praising his and fellow Wallaby Sekope Kepu's influence over the young side.
“Yeah, can’t wait to run over Christian this week. If you’re watching bruzzy I’m coming for you,” Sio joked to reporters.
“We’ve had a few jabs here and there but all healthy banter at the end of the day. We’re really good mates but also fierce rivals for 80 minutes this week. We’ll try to do the best for our teams to get the result.
“Playing Super Rugby against him is weird and seeing him in a different jersey but we’ve had the luxury of watching him play for Moana for the whole season. I think it would’ve been a lot weirder playing him in round one (as initially scheduled). He’s led that team really well with Sekope (Kepu) and they’ve managed to gel and put some good performances together.
“We’re expecting a fierce battle this week.”
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The Brumbies have locked up a home final after their bonus-point defeat to the Blues, with the chance to move as high as second depending on results.
With this in mind, it would be expected Dan McKellar will rest a couple of his star players ahead of the crucial finals chance, particular coming up against an opponent playing its third game in seven days.
However, lock turned backrower Tom Hooper dismissed any suggestions, believing their consistent resting policy across the season has kept the squad fresh and firing.
“We definitely don't believe in resting players, we just believe in the depth and strength of our squad," he said.
"We've had a really good rotation policy across the whole season. If you see any changes this week, it's probably going to be more attributed to that.
“…The beauty of the way we’ve attacked this season with that policy is that everyone is ready to go.”
