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'I've never won a grand final at any level' - Why the Brumbies can win Super Rugby

The Brumbies. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Brumbies lock Rory Arnold says they can extend their winning streak to nine games and end a 15-year Super Rugby title drought over the next fortnight.

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The Brumbies are playing for a spot in their first final since 2014 when they take on the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Saturday morning (AEST).

The Brumbies have won a single-season club record seven straight games and could host the decider with another victory and if the Hurricanes upset the Crusaders in the other semi-final.

The Jaguares are also in a rich vein of form, winning 10 of their past 11 games, including six straight, and were the last side to beat the Brumbies.

Both teams boast one of the best forward packs in Super Rugby but Wallabies enforcer Arnold backed his men to win the battle up front.

“They’re a world-class team, full of international players, they’ve got a good record and been playing some really good footy, so it’s going to be a hard task with the travel and everything but we’ve won there before,” Arnold told AAP.

“We’ve got some quality players in our pack with big Al [Allan Alaalatoa] and Sammy [Carter]. From one to eight we’ve got good players then some more on the bench. I’m quite confident our pack will match theirs.

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“We’ve had some pretty good sides in the past but I think as a squad we’re gelling really well and that’s showing on the field at the moment.

“I back our squad and ability to go over there and get the job done.”

If the Brumbies overcome the Argentines they’ll then face one of the two best-performing teams this year, but Arnold said their best is good enough to beat anyone.

“We need to tidy a few things up but we’ve got a strong set piece and some classy backs there. It all starts up front for us, but I think we can go all the way,” Arnold said.

“The pinnacle of Super Rugby is winning it and we’re two games away. We’re all competitors and we don’t play footy to come second, we play to win and if we did that it would be pretty special because I’ve never won a grand final at any level.

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“It would be unreal to host the final, when they were farewelling us (on Saturday night) I was like you never know we might be back here in a couple of weeks.

“That would be unreal but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves, we’ve got a big game this week and we need to get the result.”

AAP

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J
JW 8 hours ago
How the four-team format will help the Wallabies defeat the Lions

Have to imagine it was a one off sorta thing were they were there (saying playing against the best private schools) because that is the level they could play at. I think I got carried away and misintrepted what you were saying, or maybe it was just that I thought it was something that should be brought in.


Of course now school is seen as so much more important, and sports as much more important to schooling, that those rural/public gets get these scholarships/free entry to play at private schools.


This might only be relevant in the tradition private rugby schools, so not worth implementing, but the same drain has been seen in NZ to the point where the public schools are not just impacted by the lost of their best talent to private schools, there is a whole flow on effect of losing players to other sports their school can' still compete at the highest levels in, and staff quality etc. So now and of that traditional sort of rivalry is near lost as I understand it.


The idea to force the top level competition into having equal public school participation would be someway to 'force' that neglect into reverse. The problem with such a simple idea is of course that if good rugby talent decides to stay put in order to get easier exposure, they suffer academically on principle. I wonder if a kid who say got selected for a school rep 1st/2nd team before being scouted by a private school, or even just say had two or three years there, could choose to rep their old school for some of their rugby still?


Like say a new Cup style comp throughout the season, kid's playing for the private school in their own local/private school grade comp or whatever, but when its Cup games they switch back? Better represent, areas, get more 2nd players switching back for top level 1st comp at their old school etc? Just even in order to have cool stories where Ella or Barrett brothers all switch back to show their old school is actually the best of the best?

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