ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham is hoping a return to their Kiwi base in Auckland will help them achieve a breakthrough finals win in NZ.
Larkham and the Brumbies will spend the start of their build-up to Saturday’s clash with the Chiefs away from Hamilton.
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Instead, they have returned to Dilworth School in Auckland after travelling earlier in the week on Wednesday, a place that has delivered success to the club in 2025.
The school was where the team trained before their special win over the Blues at Eden Park, returning there for their shutout win over Moana Pasifika.
“We've based ourselves here a couple of times this year. We played the Chiefs in Round Three and then trained here before the Blues game,” Larkham explained to reporters.
“We based ourselves here as well for the Moana game in Pukekohe so it’s a bit of a home away from home for us at the moment.
“We were lucky enough to get over here a day earlier than usual flying into Auckland [on Wednesday] and then having a training session here and heading down to Hamilton this afternoon, which gives us a much better prep than what we normally have in the round games.”
“We've been at Dilworth the last few times that we've been in New Zealand. It's such a good set-up here. They've always looked after us,” captain Allan Alaalatoa added.
There had been plenty of conjecture in the build-up about the new finals structure, which sees the Brumbies having to head to Hamilton despite their victory and the Chiefs defeat.
However, Larkham is all for the system and believes the Chiefs earned the right during the regular season.
“I've enjoyed it. I think it's a little bit different,” he admits.
“There was a bit of controversy in Australia around the Chiefs getting a home semi-final even though they lost the qualifying final but we've said that there needs to be a benefit for the team that finishes first in the competition and who's most consistent throughout the competition and the Chiefs have certainly been that.
“They certainly deserve this spot. If you look at our record over the last five years, this is what we have to do to win Super Rugby. We have to get over here and we have to win finals footy.”
