Brumbies facing uphill battle to win title after loss to Western Force sees them miss top two

A HORROR 23,000km journey across three time zones stands in the way of the Brumbies’ first Super Rugby title in nine years.

A HORROR 23,000km journey across three time zones stands in the way of the Brumbies' first Super Rugby title in nine years.

In a major blow to their title aspirations, the bumbling Brumbies lost their final round game against Western Force 21-15. A win would have clinched a top-two spot, a rest this weekend and a home final the following week.

Instead, they must defeat the Cheetahs in Canberra this Sunday, then the Bulls in Pretoria the week after, before flying back to New Zealand or Australia for the grand final should they still be in the hunt.

The Brumbies’ defeat was compounded by the Bulls’ 30-13 loss in their final regular-season game to the Stormers, which prevented the South Africans finishing first overall.

The Bulls instead finished second to the Chiefs on the ladder, meaning they will host the Brumbies should Jake White’s team win their first finals match since claiming the title in 2004, against the sixth-placed Cheetahs from Bloemfontein.

Victory against the Cheetahs would put the Brumbies on a flight to Sydney and then Johannesburg, before the hour-long drive to Pretoria.

Ominously, the Bulls have never lost a finals match in Pretoria, winning all five previous playoff games at Loftus Versfeld including the 2009 grand final record romp against the Chiefs 61-17.

If the Brumbies somehow win that semi-final match, they would likely fly to Hamilton to confront defending champions and tournament favourite Chiefs.

FORCE WIN, NOW FOR O'CONNOR

It would constitute 23,000km of travel in the space of a fortnight, with Brumbies players spending roughly 32 hours in planes alone, not accounting for layovers and transfers.

Both Australian finalists, the Brumbies (third) and Reds (fifth), must win three sudden-death games to win the premiership.

Past results suggests it is impossible, with only one team in the history of Super Rugby – the 1999 Crusaders – winning the crown after finishing outside the top two.

But even then, it was a four-team finals system so the Crusaders only had to win two sudden-death games, against Queensland and the Highlanders, to lift the trophy.

The Brumbies lost their final match last year to astonishingly miss out on the finals altogether despite being the leading Australian team heading into the last round.

This time they were guaranteed of a top three finish yet still failed to beat the lowly Force.

"I’m not sure what to say, other than it looks like whenever we play the last round of the competition, we don’t know what we’re doing,” Brumbies coach Jake White said after the loss.

"We’re probably guilty of trying to think about next week. We’re just thankful we can get away with a loss here.

"We know we can’t get any worse than we were tonight."

For the Reds to win their second title in three years, they must defeat the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday, then most likely Chiefs in Hamilton and the Bulls in Pretoria.