'Winning builds confidence': Brumbies' mental hurdle ahead of Super quarter
Prop Scott Sio admits the Brumbies' preparation for the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs has been less than ideal, but he's backing them to snap a losing streak and keep their season alive for at least another week.
They'll host the Hurricanes on Saturday night in a rematch of an impressive round-11 encounter when they took down their New Zealand enemies 42-25, seemingly announcing themselves as the real deal.
But since then it's been tough sledding for the Brumbies who will enter the quarter-final after three-straight losses, most recently to bottom-ranked Moana Pasifika.
"Winning builds confidence at the end of the day and you want to be confident heading into the business end of the season," Sio told reporters.
"So (losing is) less than ideal in terms of results in the last few weeks, but the growth of this team is making sure that we take our learnings from each of those and keep building and keep getting better each day."
It would be hard to view their campaign as anything other than a bust should they fall to the Hurricanes, in what would be a limp exit to a campaign that promised so much as they appeared on the cusp of breaking the NZ stranglehold on the competition.
But against an 8-6 side they've already beaten this season, Sio said a cliched 'one week at a time' approach was crucial
"You try not to think about that too much ... you try to treat the preparation like any other week ... but we're under no illusions it's knockout rugby now, we understand that pressure goes up for everyone," he said.
"The main thing for us is we're happy to be home before playing in front of our fans who've backed us the whole way through the season, it's about putting in a good performance for them."
- Alex Mitchell
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> If the game of rugby is to grow globally, then the rugby Sth Africa play needs to be exterminated. Their performances at World Cup ‘19 & ‘23 were the antithesis to what the game should be. If the World Cup final is the grand spectacle of the game, please no more having to endure the drudgery and insipid ‘style ‘ of play harking back to pre WWII days, where the soulless rugby of the Bok reflected the mindset of a nation. > Gotta agree with Ben Smith, “ the Springboks took the trophy by default, with what might be the most unimpressive escape of all time “.
Go to commentsI think Rassie should bring in some new guys and give them a go in these irrelevant games. It’s a chance to blood some guys that might otherwise not get a chance and see if they’re up to it. As for the who’s number 1 dispute? Don’t care. As long as the trophies are brought home, that argument isn’t important. Champions don’t fuss about the could’ve, would’ve, should’ve. They just do, and that for me makes SA and NZ the top dogs. Followed by Ireland and occasionally England.
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