Brumbies wary of complacency against Chiefs
In rematch of last year’s final, winner will be able to keep table leaders Sharks in their sights
Defending champions Waikato Chiefs and Australia's ACT Brumbies meet on Friday in a rematch of last year's Super Rugby final, with the winner keeping series leaders the Coastal Sharks in their sights.
The Brumbies and Chiefs trail the Sharks by six points after eight rounds of the southern hemisphere provincial championship competition and both need a win on Anzac Day to avoid falling further behind the South African pacesetters.
The Sharks face the Otago Highlanders in Durban early Saturday morning (HK time), where they have not lost to the New Zealanders for nine years.
There were periods in that [2013 final] where I thought, ‘We’ve got this won’, and that’s the wrong attitude. You can never relax
Back-to-back champions Waikato have battled through this season with a heavy injury toll and will have 11 players unavailable for the crunch game in Canberra.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham is aware of the danger of playing with complacency against the Chiefs.
"There were periods in that [2013 final] where I thought, 'We've got this won', and that's the wrong attitude," Larkham said. "You can never relax."
The Chiefs have only won twice in 10 trips to Canberra and the Brumbies lead 11-7 overall in their meetings.