The ACT Brumbies are sitting at the bottom of the ladder heading into the last round of Super Rugby AUS, with the side needing to produce a bonus point win greater than 15 points over the Waratahs to book their place in the final.
However, despite the results, the new format has been given a strong tick of approval by Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham, who believes the first season serves as a great starting point for future success.
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“I think the competition in terms of giving exposure to these young guys has been great,” Larkham said to reporters in Canberra on Wednesday following the squad announcement.
“It's going to shape the way we train through the pre-season, it's going to shape some of our decisions going into next season around some players in certain positions.
“We haven't had a lot of marketing in and around the game, but we've had good crowds.
“Our first two games have been away, so it's good to get home and play in front of our crowd this weekend.
“As a starter to this competition, it's only going to get better in terms of the advertisement and support that we're going to get. The exposure that these players are having at a higher level than club rugby is certainly great for their growth in the game.
“We'd like to see a few more games in this window so that we've got 30 players training with us at the moment and not all of those players have had an opportunity to play.”
Among the 11 uncapped players in the Brumbies squad are Jack Hartley and Kye Oates, who will play their first matches in ACT colours this weekend at Viking Park.
“Jack's been in the program for a couple of years now and was picked in the Junior Wallabies team and represented himself and the Brumbies exceptionally well,” Larkham said of the loose forward.
“He's been knocking on the door. He had a fairly significant injury this year and he's been knocking on the door for some games for a while now. We're very excited to see how he goes.
“Kye Oates also has been struggling with an injury for a while, missed a fair bit of John I Dent [Cup].
“But he's one that we've signed for next year, so we're looking forward to seeing how he goes.
“The games have been up and down for us. I think [there has been] really good composure through certain parts of the game.
“We were behind on the scoreboard quite significantly in both games and the boys worked their way back into it to put ourselves in the lead within the last 15 minutes.
“A little bit of game control at the back end of those games has hurt us, but they've picked things up really quickly. We've been training for three weeks now, it hasn't been a long run into this competition we've been playing for two weeks. There's some really good individual performances.”
With so many young players in the program, Larkham also hopes the competition, alongside the U19s and U16s sides, can help utilise the Canberra area more effectively and help generate more local talent.
“It's important that we get continuity through the program,” Larkham added.
“We certainly want to pick out of the John I Dent [Cup], we want to pick out of the local competition. We bring some players down for the 16s and the 19s to bolster the teams.
“We want to make sure those players stay committed to the Brumbies and we're certainly seeing that at the moment.”
While discussion around pre-season and the impact of this new format will be inevitable once the final is played, Larkham’s main challenge is to knock off rivals the Waratahs, who currently sit in second behind the Force.
The Waratahs just need to leave Canberra with any victory, but the Brumbies will be hoping to grab a bonus point win by more than two tries to muster an unlikely final meet-up, while also hoping the Force can defeat the Reds.
Despite their current predicament, Larkham believes plenty has been gained - and even more could be should the Brumbies muster an almighty comeback.
“If you look at this competition now, we haven't won a game and we've lost both games in the last ten minutes,” the head coach added.
“We're on zero points but we've still got a chance to finish the competition strongly and make it to the final. It's our usual foe in front of us this weekend. They're in the same boat as us.
“They need to win this weekend to guarantee a spot in the final. We need to win with a bonus point and keep the margin between us greater than 15 points.
“There's a challenge ahead of us this weekend.”
