Larkham pinpoints ‘big difference’ for Brumbies before facing Chiefs

ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham believes home ground advantage in Canberra will be “a big difference” against the Chiefs this week, as the hosts chase their first Super Rugby Pacific win since February 28.

Charlie Cale was one of the standouts for the Brumbies during the opening few rounds, as the men from Australia’s capital started the season 3-0. The Brumbies claimed a big win over the Western Force in Perth before beating the Crusaders and the Blues.

But the Brumbies have fallen to the Queensland Reds 34-31 and the Fijian Drua 42-27 over the last two weeks, which sees them sit in third-place on the standings ahead of round six. They will face the fourth-placed Chiefs, who have also won three matches so far this season.

The Chiefs have flown from Hamilton to Auckland to Sydney, and taken a three-hour bus journey down to Canberra for this match. Luke Jacobson captains a side that includes Cortez Ratima and Damian McKenzie in the halves, while Josh Lord and Tupou Vaai combine in the second row.

Both the Brumbies and Chiefs have named strong sides for this round six blockbuster, with Paris Olympian Corey Toole among the big-name inclusions for the hosts after missing last weekend’s defeat to the Drua in Ba.

“They’ve come off a bye as well so they’re well rested and would’ve had a really good preparation coming into this game, as opposed to our really one session today,” Larkham told reporters.

“But we are playing at home, so that makes a big difference. The support that we get at home, the lack of travel that we have to undertake, and… the session today was pretty good.

“We take this prep over a seven day turnaround and travelling so certainly looking forward to the opportunity that presents this weekend, certainly coming up against one of the best teams in the competition for the last number of years.”

Winger Kye Oates and scrum-half Klayton Thorn combined to set up Hudson Creighton for the opening try against the Drua. Thron put a kick ahead for Creighton to chase, with the ball sitting up within the in-goal for the No. 11.

Former Australia U20 captain Toby MacPherson scored the Brumbies’ only other try of the first half, with the Drua taking a 20-12 lead into the sheds. The Drua continued to pile on the points during the second term, outscoring the Brumbies 22-15.

“It’s been tough travel. We’ve known about it for a while, the first three rounds and then a couple of games at home and then over to Fiji and less than seven days to prep for a number of these games,” Larkham explained.

“We’re probably short in terms of minutes trained going into the games but the Drua were really good on the weekend, I thought they played one of their better games, consistent across the park, very good with their opportunities with the ball.

“We certainly had a lot of possession in that first half and they held us out on the line there and then when they got their opportunities, they were very good.

“That one hurt us a little bit. We went over there obviously with a few changes to our squad but we still probably  expected a better result than what we achieved.

“That’s two [losses] in a row now where the emotions have been hurt a little bit.

“We had a relatively light session on Monday and today was a good session but there’s still another session to get through tomorrow. There’s a fair bit of recovery the boys have to do and hopefully come kick-off the boys are feeling really good.”