Brumbies hooker Stephen Moore relishes a home clash against cheeky Cheetahs

STEPHEN Moore has put the emotion of playing in the Lions series behind him and is focused on Sunday's clash against the Cheetahs.

Stephen Moore

STEPHEN Moore has put the emotion of playing in the British & Irish Lions series behind him and is focused on Sunday's clash against the Cheetahs in Canberra.

It has been nine years since the Brumbies last qualified for the Super Rugby finals, but they missed out on a top-two berth with their shock loss to the Western Force last weekend.

It would have earned them a week off, but Moore isn't reflecting on what might have been.

"We're in the situation we are and we have a home final for the first time in nine years, so I'm pretty positive about that," Moore said.

"There are a lot of guys in this group who haven't experienced finals and it hasn't happened in Canberra for a long time, so we're really excited and hopefully the rest of Canberra are excited as well and they're going to get behind us on Sunday.

"Mentally I think I feel better this week than I did last week. It was certainly an emotional period that whole Lions series. I feel really fresh now. We have a whole week at home again in our own beds and in our own facilities and we have to really make the most of that."

The Cheetahs have played some of the most enterprising rugby of the tournament and are undefeated against Australian teams this season. But they're yet to meet the Brumbies.

"They're a really attacking team," Moore said.

"They score a lot of tries and they play a really good brand of footy, so that's something we'll need to look at.

"If it had been a team we had played I guess we would've known more about them, but we haven't played them this year. But I think most of our focus this week will be on getting our own game right."

Brumbies coach Jake White confirmed George Smith would return for the crucial match, but wouldn't give away the rest of his team five days out from the game.

"For me now it's about picking a team that can win the competition," White said.