While he didn't feature in the Brumbies' famous 2013 victory, Ben Mowen is bringing his past experience against the British & Irish Lions to ACT's preparations for next week's historic clash.
Debuting for the Wallabies during the 2013 series, Mowen was the first to admit the upcoming fixture will come with several challenges, with the Brumbies expecting a sellout crowd at GIO Stadium.
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However, he has not been afraid to talk to the ACT players about his own experience facing the famous red jersey.
"It's obviously a very unique experience," Mowen told reporters.
"We've spoken about that as a group. I've tried to share a little bit of the insight with my experience through both the Brumbies and then the Test stuff.
"Essentially, it comes down to keeping your focus narrow and making sure that we're focused on performing.
"It is such a great event and there's so much fringe distraction and energy that can float around. But from a player's perspective, they've got to enjoy that build-up but then really start to narrow their focus once they get close to the game.
"We've tried our best to drip feed a little bit of education in around it because having a semi-full, full GIO is probably not something any of us have experienced.
"How do we communicate verbal, non-verbal under that sort of circumstance? And then how do you make sure that you are present and performing, but enjoying that atmosphere as well?"
Compared to the likes of the Reds and Waratahs, the Brumbies have had a comparatively short history against the Lions - with the fabled touring group only playing in Australia's capital on three occasions.
However, the side has made those three moments count.
The Lions first visited the ACT on the 1989 tour, winning 41-25 against a representative side at Seiffert Oval. When the sides would meet 12 years later in 2001, the newly crowned Super Rugby champions were only six years old as a club, and pushed the fabled Lions side all the way, losing 30-28 on a famous night at GIO Stadium.
However, they would finally get their revenge on the 2013, with a Brumbies side featuring Wallaby veteran Clyde Rathbone and future Wallabies Henry Speight , Tevita Kuridrani, Matt To'omua, Sam Carter, Scott Fardy, Scott Sio and Jesse Mogg recording a famous 14-12 victory, the first over the Lions by an Australian provincial side in 42 years.
Mogg and Sio would go on to be included in the Wallabies squad that would face the Lions later in the tour.
Living up to that history will be a major challenge for the Brumbies come Wednesday night - with the side missing several of their biggest stars.
However, Mowen has wisely opting to take a pragmatic approach only using his past experience where useful to deliver key performance front of mind.
"It is this travelling entertainment that comes, rips through Australia every 12 years and sweeps everyone up," Mowen added.
"But from a playing perspective, our end of the bargain is to perform on the grass.
"We're just trying to keep their ability to execute high because the game will be enjoyable if we're performing. It's a different type of enjoyable to just being part of that experience.
"I think you've seen the strength last weekend from the Lions' performance.
"If they want to put the foot down, they absolutely can. And so we don't want to be in the wrong end of that. We want to make sure that we experience our game as walking off the field really proud of what we put out there."
With one more opportunity to see the Lions in action this weekend against the Waratahs, Mowen admitted the Brumbies have kept a very close eye on the squad - and has several plans in place for when the squads are named on Monday.
"We're starting to see small frameworks being installed," Mowen said of the Lions playing style.
"From a playing perspective, we're really experienced with the player depth that they've got. There's less combinations at the moment just because they are trying to make sure that each player gets a chance to perform before they start to narrow their test selection. So you prepare for all the individuals.
"One thing you know is when you've got a touring Lions party that's made up of 35, 40 test stars is there's depth. So we've got to start the game well. We've got to make sure that we're high on our execution around what we want to achieve.
"Then the guys that come on and finish the game have got to provide the real energy.
"They are a team that can sting you really deep on kick return - the kick strategy will be a big part of it. But we've spoken a lot about the evolution of our team over the last 12 months has been when those kick return opportunities are on, we're going.
"Instilling that confidence and execution across the playing group has been a big focus."
Mowen has also opted to keep a big picture with this match - the Brumbies are set to undergo several changes ahead of Super Rugby AUS and the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season - with several key stars, the latest being fly half Jack Debreczeni and wing Ben O’Donnell - confirmed to leave the club at the end of the Lions match.
In that sense, the match looms as a crucial moment in the greater scheme of the Brumbies development, not only serving as a chance to play against the Lions - but setting the stage for future player development going forward.
"I think in a lot of aspects this is a potentially stronger team in terms of really good young talent, good mix of experience and guys that are super hungry to perform," Mowen admitted.
"We've got to keep stuff simple. We've got to make sure that we narrow our focus when we get close to the game because it will be a big occasion. We're going to have to play really well to be competitive.
"But we believe we can.
"When we came back (after the 2013 Lions loss) and then you felt that momentum and that enthusiasm from the young guys, you had a deeper belief in what they'd achieved.
"That's a unique opportunity that sits in front of our guys ahead of Super Rugby 2026, is there'll be some big building blocks from this game that will underpin a lot of these guys' careers and the success that we go on to try and achieve next year.
"There's a larger context at stake around this game and what it'll do to set up Brumbies Rugby the next few years."
