It has come as a surprise to fans and pundits alike that has taken Stephen Larkham until the semi finals to announce his first unchanged side of the 2025 season - but for the head coach, it has not only been a result of the challenges of the season, but on where the side sits now.
The Brumbies arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday, with plans firmly in place for all scenarios - with a stay of potentially being up to ten days on the other side of the ditch.
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The ACT side will have to not only aim to break a 20-match losing streak for Kiwi sides on home soil that stretches back to 1997, but could also potentially host a final at home against the Blues.
However, if there are any worries, the side is in the best possible position to tackle it, with Larkham naming a near full-strength outfit.
"The boys are peaking at the right time," Larkham told reporters on Tuesday.
"I thought they played really well on the weekend [against the Hurricanes].
"The selection is based on performance, but also we certainly want continuity going into finals. It's a nice to have at this stage of the season."
The Brumbies will start the second semi final as underdogs - having dropped four matches in the regular season, including a 49-34 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton earlier in the year.
However, the year has come with several big away wins, including the Blues, Drua and Force - and Larkham believes the side is in a better position now compared to the 2024 semi final, revealing a key factor that affected their campaign last year.
"We've been very consistent this year. The results probably don't say that," Larkham said.
"We heard that the Blues got up and that [the Canes'] was now a do-or-die game. I thought they handled the pressure quite well.
"We'll sort of treat it fairly similarly this week on trying not to get too emotional about the game. Last year and the year before, that build up to the game was a little bit too emotional. So we'll make sure that we keep that in check this week.
"I think the boys get a lot of confidence out of the way that they're playing. There's a lot of stats that show that we're actually playing very good footy. Throwing less on that emotional [element] now and more on the reality of the way that we're actually playing."
The emotional element is not the only lesson the Brumbies staff have taken from their past semi final disappointments, with the side also managing their prep and travel in a different way compared to previous seasons.
"We've sort of tinkered with the way that we travel, when we travel, whether we have captain's runs or not," Larkham explained.
"Every week it's refining that process. We're in a pretty good space in terms of our routine.
"I've learned a few things out of having ten days in New Zealand... we've found a really good base to train over there and we're going to use that base again - it takes the travel out of it when you don't have to travel the day before or two nights before.
"We're not getting too stressed out about the hype of the game or the build-up to the game."
Larkham revealed that while prep for the Hurricanes came from a similar place compared to the Crusaders the week before, the side has identified several areas they will focus on to take down the Chiefs.
"The Chiefs are different to the Hurricanes," Larkham added.
"There's a lot of similarity in the way that they play multi-phase, both defensively and from an attack perspective.
"The Chiefs have got the best scrum in the competition. That's going to be a challenge. Last week we came up against a really strong scrum - we know from a stats perspective, the Chiefs are the best in the competition at the moment, so hopefully turning the tables there this weekend in that space.
"They're the highest-kicking team in the competition. We prep for that, making sure that we're ready for the amount of possession that we're going to get."
With the side taking several lessons to task in their prep, Larkham has confirmed the side is feeling more grounded and focused compared to previous finals runs - and expects a strong performance in Hamilton.
"We respect the opposition," said Larkham candidly.
"We know what threats they bring. We want to train with intensity out there. We don't want to burn energy thinking about things that might happen in the game.
"If we get our preparation right, if the boys go through their process right, they'll keep the emotions in check, and then that gives us a chance to have maximum amount of energy for the game.
"The rest is up to how we play footy on the field."
