The Brumbies are without captain Stirling Mortlock; coach David Nucifora knows he'll be fired regardless of the outcome; they're 1-3 in Super 12 finals and they're facing the Crusaders, the only team with a winning record against them in nine seasons.
Nothing seems to be working in favor of the Brumbies.
But Nucifora says those drawbacks will be insignificant in today's Super 12 rugby union decider.
The Canberra Stadium final "is all that counts," he said. "We've been a consistent team all year and I think we've certainly continued to improve since we played them last."
The Crusaders are 7-4 against the Brumbies in Super 12 head-to-heads, including a 47-28 win at Christchurch this season, and are at full strength with the return of All Blacks lock Chris Jack.
The Canterbury franchise has won four titles from five finals appearances, including wins over the Brumbies in 2000 and 2002.
"There's a feeling in the team that we've been here too many times to come second and we'd like to come first for a change," flanker Owen Finegan, who replaced Mortlock as captain, said yesterday.
Everything is coming together at the right end of the season for the Crusaders.
They started 2004 with consecutive losses to the Waratahs and Auckland but recovered to place second in the standings with seven wins.
Coach Robbie Deans recalled Jack to bolster his powerful forward pack and move Ross Filipo back to the bench in the only change to the starting team that beat the Stormers in the semis.
All Blacks flanker Richie McCaw and scrumhalf Justin Marshall shrugged off injury concerns to take their places in a starting XV that has no room for leading Crusaders pointscorer Andrew Mehrtens. Cameron McIntyre will mark Brumbies' attacking spearhead Steve Larkham.
RSS