The Hurricanes vs Brumbies qualifying final in Wellington on Friday night gives James Slipper and the Brumbies a direct shot at a grand final berth. It also puts Australia’s 0-21 record against Kiwi teams in New Zealand back under the spotlight, with the Brumbies trying to break it on the hardest stage.
Slipper’s Brumbies focus
Slipper has reached 100 games for the Canberra-based side and became the most-capped Super Rugby player ever this season, but he is not treating the milestone as the main point. “I've always played the game for the team. Team milestones and team achievements come before the individual,” he said to AAP.
“In my mind, celebrating with your teammates after a win or finals win or whatever is why you play the game.” That is the line carrying the Brumbies into Wellington, where a single result decides whether their season keeps moving toward the title match.
Slipper has already shown he can shape a finals run. He scored a crucial try in the ACT’s win over the Crusaders in February, and he also won the competition with the Queensland Reds in 2011. On that earlier success, he said: “At the time I thought I'd get another one, but I haven't been back there since, so it's been a bit of a dry run,” and added, “It shows how hard it is to get there. The Brumbies winning a title motivates me. That's probably why I want to keep playing.”
Hurricanes bring reinforcements
The Hurricanes are not meeting the Brumbies at full stretch. Co-captain Jordie Barrett is back from a hamstring injury, with Asafo Aumua, Pasilio Tosi and Du'Plessis Kirifi also returning for the final.
That strengthens a side that already handled the Brumbies once this season, winning 45-12 in Super Round. The visitors arrive with their own warning sign too: last Saturday’s 21-19 loss to Moana Pasifika showed how quickly a tight contest can slip away.
Charlie Cale has been part of that Brumbies squad through a disrupted stretch of his own. He missed a large chunk of last season with back spasms and part of this season because of a shoulder injury, then said, “I missed a lot of footy last year, and even missed a little bit of footy this year, so it would be very, very special for me if I got back in there (Wallabies),” before adding, “It's completely out of your hands, so you can't really worry about the things you can't control, so I'm fully focused on the Brumbies situation at the moment.”
For the Brumbies, Friday night is the cleanest test of the season: beat the Hurricanes in Wellington, and the grand final stays alive; lose, and the New Zealand drought for Australian sides stretches again.
