Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa has been left to rue what might have been following his side's 37-17 semi final loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton.
ACT matched the hosts' three tries but couldn't contain Damian McKenzie, who starred for the hosts with a try assist, a try saving tackle on Tom Wright and his match-winning 22-point haul from the tee (six penalty goals, two conversions).
Here's five things we learned from Brumbies v Chiefs.
"What we spoke about all week was we had to play close to a perfect game, to come out here and get the result," Alaalatoa told Sky Sport post-game.
"We probably saw there in the second half that our accuracy let us down and off the back of that probably our discipline there as well.
"We gave the Chiefs too much ascendency down our end and they capitalised from that so I think that's probably what it came down to at the end of the game."
Saturday night's 20-point loss marked the Brumbies' fourth consecutive semi final defeat across the ditch with Alaalatoa paying tribute to the Chiefs before backing his club's strong culture to help them bounce back in 2025.
"Our Brumbies culture is built around that connection, it's built around work ethic and working hard for each other," Alaalatoa said.
"We saw that through the whole year … and probably what it comes down to in finals is being accurate, winning moments at a time and the Chiefs won more [moments] than us."
Chiefs star and best on ground Damian McKenzie told Sky Sports the Brumbies had been "outstanding" all year.
"The Brumbies got out of the blocks fast, the way we knew they would. It's never easy playing the Brumbies boys," McKenzie said.
"I just loved the way we were really composed and sticked to our game. We put the ball in front of our forwards and obviously our set piece was great tonight.
"A lot of dew on the ground (tonight), so for myself and the backs it was about putting the ball in front of our forwards and making it as easy as possible for them."
