Stephen Larkham: ‘Still opportunities’ for Brumbies in top-three race

ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham hasn’t ruled out a top-three finish on the Super Rugby Pacific standings, but acknowledges other results need to go their way over the final month of the regular season.

There are less than 25 days left in the round-robin, but the equation is fairly simple for the Brumbies: win their remaining three matches and they’ll be playoff-bound. The Brumbies are currently sixth on the ladder with 25 competition points, holding a 5-6 record.

Australian rivals the NSW Waratahs are just outside the playoff picture as things stand ahead of round 13, ranked seventh on 20 competition points. The Hurricanes are in top spot with 40 points, with the Blues and Chiefs rounding out the top-three.

Following a 14-10 win over the Highlanders last month, the Brumbies dropped their next three to the Fijian Drua, Hurricanes and the Queensland Reds. The Brumbies have won one of their last five, having also lost to the Waratahs in a thriller on March 27.

The Western Force ended a 14-year Canberra drought when they overcame the Brumbies at GIO Stadium in February 2025. They’ll look to repeat those heroics on Saturday evening, while the Brumbies are searching for a crucial bounce-back triumph.

“We spoke about where we are on the ladder. We showed the ladder and showed how congested it is underneath that so there’s still opportunities for us to finish in the top three. It’s very remote because the other sides have to lose,” Larkham told reporters.

“Things are out of our control now but what we know is that if we do win from here on in then we will still make the finals which is giving ourselves a chance.

“We’ve been saying it for the last couple of weeks that every game is important, the next game in front of you is the most important game and we want to have a really good performance this weekend.

“I think we took a really good step forward against the Reds and now we get to play at home.”

Fixture

Super Rugby Pacific

Brumbies

02:35

9 May 26

Force

All Stats and Data

The Brumbies suffered a shock defeat to the Drua at home on April 18, before falling to the ladder-leading Hurricanes 45-12 in Super Round. Fehi Feinganofo touched down for four tries as the Wellingtonians made a statement at One New Zealand Stadium.

After returning to Australia, the Brumbies travelled north to the Sunshine State, facing the Reds in a key derby. Lachlan Shaw and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto traded early tries, before Fraser McReight and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips helped see the Queenslanders home.

“We’re certainly happy with the way that we played compared to the previous two weeks, so there was a step forward in terms of our ability to hold the ball and recycle the ball and put some pressure on the opposition through ball in hand,” Larkham explained.

“We thought our exits weren’t where they needed to be. We turned the ball over far too many times in our end of the field. We need to be just smarter in that space, not necessarily saying that we’re going to play everything through the foot out of our end.

“We want to take the opportunities when they’re there and we still want to play the entertaining style of rugby that Brumbies are renowned for, but we want to want to produce for our fans. We’ve got to get that balance right.”

The Brumbies have welcomed back “world-class” prop Allan Alaalatoa for the Force match, who joins Lachlan Lonergan and James Slipper in an all-capped Wallabies front-row. Nick Frost and Shaw complete the tight five as the two locks.

Alaalatoa was ruled out of matches against the Hurricanes and Reds, but returns at an important time for the Brums. Hudson Creighton has also come into the run-on side, replacing Kadin Pritchard at outside centre.

“Allan coming back in certainly adds a lot of leadership. World-class player as well,” Larkham added.

“He went up to Brisbane with us last week and actually warmed up with the boys, and I thought prepped them really well.

“It’ll be really good to have him back, certainly from a leadership point of view in terms of giving everyone confidence.”