Stephen Larkham issues challenge to Brumbies after ending Hurricanes’ streak
Brumbies head coach Stephen Larkham has challenged his players to regularly produce performances like the one they delivered in their victory over the Hurricanes in Canberra on Saturday.
The 27-19 triumph was a significant result as it meant the Brumbies became the first team to beat the table-topping Hurricanes in this year’s Super Rugby Pacific competition.
First win against top four team
It was also the first time that Larkham‘s troops had beaten one of the tournament’s top-four teams after they suffered defeats against the Chiefs and the Blues.
The latter defeat against the Blues was an embarrassing one as the Auckland-based side cruised to a 46-7 victory at Eden Park in Round Nine and Larkham revealed that his troops were keen to put in a better performance against the Hurricanes.
And the 49-year-old wants his charges to retain those high standards for all their remaining matches in the run-in to the quarter-finals.
“Every team in this competition is dangerous on their day, and if you look at the start of the season, we’ve (played) some teams that weren’t quite at their top,” Larkham told AAP.
“(The Hurricanes) are on top of the ladder, but that doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily any better than any other team we’re coming up against over the next couple of games.
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“We had a really good training week, the guys challenged themselves within the group to the highest standards, and we saw a lot of improvement.
“It’s pleasing really for the players to know they can train like that and it leads to a performance like that.”
The Brumbies raced into a 24-5 lead in the first half before the Hurricanes came back strongly as the match progressed.
Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw said he wasn’t panicking now that his side suffered their first defeat.
‘It felt like a playoff game’
“(The loss) helps (the team) I reckon, I’m excited because it felt like a playoff game,” he said.
“The Brumbies are a quality side. If you want to win the competition, you’re gonna have to beat teams like the Brumbies.
“I’m really excited about what we can learn from this and what we take into the Waratahs game next week.”
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