The Brumbies, who have not defeated the Blues at Australia’s iconic rugby graveyard since 2013, will be visiting Eden Park after losing their most recent match, 46-7, to the Aucklanders in April.
In the Brumbies’ worst-ever loss to the Blues, coach Stephen Larkham bemoaned the team’s lack of physicality. Alaalatoa understands his team needs to prevail physically in order to have any chance of reversing the situation.
And after winning seven straight games after that round-10 lesson, he is sure they can. The next week, the Brumbies defeated the Hurricanes, who were atop the table. During that run, they also defeated the Crusaders, the reigning champions, and the Highlanders, a Kiwi team.
Alaalatoa is certain that the Brumbies can make history if they can physically equal the Blues, despite the fact that no Australian team has ever won a finals match in New Zealand.
“Playing in the finals and experiencing what it’s like to play at Eden Park was probably the first time the boys were over to New Zealand last year and the year before,” he said on Monday. We will thus draw from the experiences of those lads who were present.
“The players on this current squad have been together for a number of years and were part of the last two years.” It will thus be quite beneficial for us to have the experience of competing in the semi-finals there.
The seasoned front-row player acknowledges that the Brumbies need to get much better at the scrum after being outclassed by the Blues in the set piece last time out.
“It was a challenging lesson,” Alaalatoa remarked. “We had to address that right away and carry it over for the remainder of the season, and I felt the boys did a great job picking up on it.”
Therefore, we are aware that it will happen, but much more so, we are aware of what we will bring. “We need to improve on that component of our previous performance. “Yet I have a lot of confidence because of how we’ve improved this year, how we’ve overcome setbacks, how the lads are becoming more open in meetings, and how we’re pushing each other in the training area. News for The Daily Rugby
“You can see the contribution of the guys outside of that who are really challenging and want to do their part for the jersey. It’s not just the 23 who are going to play.”
In the title game the following week, the winners will take on the team that emerged victorious from Saturday’s second semi-final between the Chiefs and Hurricanes in Wellington.