The Wellington Hurricanes will play the emotional card and invoke the memory of Jerry Collins when they play the ACT Brumbies this weekend as the Super 15 intensity hits "test-match level". The New South Wales Waratahs and Otago Highlanders round off the semi-finals with the Sydney team determined to prove that regular-season points, where they finished behind Otago, were an aberration. The New Zealand sides go into the trans-Tasman showdowns with the better form - the Hurricanes and Highlanders were the two best-performing sides in the regular season - while the Australia sides have the greater pedigree. They’ve been the trailblazers all year in the competition so they’re a very dangerous side in a lot of different areas Brumbies hooker Stephen Moore The Waratahs are the defending champions, while the Brumbies, 2001 and 2004 winners, booked a place in the semis for a third consecutive year when they knocked out South Africa's final hope, the Western Stormers. The Brumbies are bidding to become the first team from either Australia or South Africa to win a play-off match in New Zealand, but against them is the arduous travel they have undertaken to get to Wellington's Westpac Stadium via South Africa. Hooker Stephen Moore saw similarities with 2013 when they went to South Africa to beat the Northern Bulls in the semis then flew to New Zealand to be beaten 27-22 by the Waikato Chiefs in the final. "I guess this time round I feel like our squad is probably a little bit stronger and more experienced," he said. "Finals is as close as you get to test matches and big test matches. That kind of pressure goes up a level, the intensity goes up a level." The Brumbies did not play the Hurricanes in the regular season, but Moore said they have seen plenty of video evidence to know what they are up against. "They've been the trailblazers all year in the competition so they're a very dangerous side in a lot of different areas," he said. The Hurricanes, who suffered a blow Wednesday with All Blacks wing Cory Jane forced out by a hamstring injury, are playing the emotional card. A giant No 6 jersey will be carried around the stadium in tribute to former Hurricanes star Collins who was killed in a car crash in France with his partner three weeks ago. Collins, a close friend and team-mate of many present Hurricanes, "was a fantastic Hurricane", club chief executive James Te Puni said. "We want to recognise Jerry and his contribution," he added, saying the Brumbies clash was arguably the biggest game in the Hurricanes' history. The Waratahs, given a week off and a home semi against the Highlanders under a quirk of the conference system, have taken lessons from the way the Brumbies beat the Otago franchise earlier in the year by slowing the game down. "They are a very impressive team, they play a high-speed, high-tempo game, they have plenty of threats, and I think [scrum-half] Aaron Smith is playing some of the best rugby of his career," Waratahs assistant coach Daryl Gibson said. "We need to try and put the brakes on them to try and slow them down, and try and dictate the tempo of the game that we want to play." The Highlanders produced a strong finish to beat the Waratahs 26-19 in Dunedin in round four this year, but playing in Sydney is another matter.
