Stephen Larkham is building a dog-eat-dog culture at the ACT Brumbies with players desperate to win his favour with intense training ground battles – and it’s paying off big time as they target a Super Rugby Grand Final.

The team overcame serious struggles with their set piece on Saturday night to put in a superb second half performance – the starters and benchmen combining to keep the Highlanders scoreless in the second 40 minutes of their quarterfinal.

While the back three of Tom Wright, Corey Toole and Andy Muirhead showcased their outrageous skills, Rob Valetini roared into the opposition lines and Charlie Cale added another five star performance to his CV, it was also a triumph of last ditch defending.

With just a few minutes remaining and the game safely locked up, the Brumbies scrambled to deny the Highlanders a consolation try.

Wright said that desperation, despite the comfortable game state, was a sign of the competitiveness within the ranks to secure their spots.

“The other side of the coin is the disappointment on Mondays, the guys getting told they’re not selected for the 23,” Wright said.

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“There’s probably a lot of credit to how hard everyone’s just having to play at the moment to try to stay in the team.

“So you see [Wallaby Nick Frost] coming on late in the picture. Guys are just working to be in the frame. Bernie’s really big about that, making sure when the ball’s in play, we’re on.
So that’s something we try to pride ourselves on.”

There’s no escape from that intensity at training either, with Larkham revealing he sicced those disappointed squad members onto the starters midweek.

“The reserves really put a show on this week,” Larkham said. “They bashed the starters and sort of taught them a lesson in terms of intensity, and I think it primed them really well for this game.”

Larkham, who tasted success with the Brumbies as a player, is fiercely determined to deliver it as a coach.

Next up are the Blues, who have got through the past two games without looking their best. They showed some vulnerability when a late concession cost them first place on the ladder and a potential home grand final.

“Two years ago, we lost to the Blues in the semifinal and this is not good enough,” Larkham said.

“Where we’re at at the moment, just winning a quarter-final, getting to a semi, is not what this team’s about.”

What is sure to be mentioned this week is that insane record of Australian teams having never won a finals game on New Zealand soil.

For that hoodoo to be broken, Larkham could well need James Slipper back from injury as his third choice loosehead Harry Vella was overwhelmed against the Highlanders.

“It’ll be different next week. There’s no doubt about that,” said Larkham.

“I think the Blues have got really good ball carriers and they’re very effective once they get inside the 22, so we’ll have to look at our strategy around that.

“Tonight it was pretty good. We let one try in in that first half where Andy [Muirhead] sort of jammed, but he didn’t make the tackle and then left us short on the edge.

“Outside of that, I thought the defence was outstanding. Discipline let us down in the first half, both at scrum time and probably a couple of high tackles and not rolling away. Second half, it was just a completely different picture for us defensively.”