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What Brumbies' young enforcer Valetini realised about playing against All Blacks in Super Rugby

(Photos by Michael Bradley and Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

The Brumbies are determined to end an almost six-year Super Rugby losing streak in New Zealand when they face the Chiefs on Saturday in Hamilton.

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The Canberra franchise haven’t won across the ditch since March 2014 when they beat the Hurricanes, and Tevita Kuridrani, Scott Sio and Lachy McCaffrey are the only surviving players.

The Brumbies lost a heartbreaker after the siren last week against the Highlanders, having won only three times against Kiwi opposition since February 2016.

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To end the New Zealand hoodoo, they must upset the unbeaten Chiefs and Wallaby-in-waiting Rob Valetini says half the battle is psychological.

“My first time versing the Chiefs, I looked at them as the All Blacks because there was a ton of them playing but, as the game went on, (I realised) they’re human,” Valetini said.

“It’s definitely going to be a hard match-up this week. They’re on top of the table and have All Blacks scattered across the squad and Aaron Cruden at 10.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8sptiWg4H0/

“But I think we’re up for it. It’s about fronting up as a team. We’ll get the job done if we get around each other. If we bring the energy, we can pull an upset.

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“There’s a real belief within the team and the young boys are stepping up.”

Brumbies lock Cadeyrn Neville has also played for Melbourne and Queensland and earned more than 65 Super Rugby caps, but he’s never won in New Zealand.

“Beating a New Zealand side anywhere (is tough) and then doing it at their home ground … it’s going to be a big ask but we’re ready,” Neville said.

“Their conveyor belt (of talent) isn’t going to stop anytime soon so, even if they rolled out a team full of people I’d never heard of, I wouldn’t expect any less of them.

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“At the Rebels, we had a win within grasp in Hamilton one year but we blew that, so I know even if it’s there for the taking, you’ve got to finish it.”

-AAP

Brumbies lock Cadeyrn Neville ahead of Chiefs clash:

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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