Super Rugby: Brumbies ready to go ‘hammer and tongs’ against arch-rivals Waratahs in Sydney on Sunday

BITTER and twisted has given way to silverware envy but the Brumbies have vowed to channel anti-Waratah hatred of the past and go “hammer and tongs” on their rivals in Sydney on Sunday.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: Stephen Moore of the Brumbies takes on the defence during the round five Super Rugby match between the Reds and the Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium on March 14, 2015 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

BITTER and twisted has given way to silverware envy but the Brumbies have vowed to channel anti-Waratah hatred of the past and go “hammer and tongs” on their rivals in Sydney on Sunday.

The Waratahs will host the Brumbies at Allianz Stadium for the first time in regular season since 2008, having ​taken the big-drawing clash to ANZ Stadium for the past five seasons.

It is a return to the scene of some of the ​feistiest clashes between the old enemies, and though most rivalries are dulled in the cold-blooded world of modern footy, the Brumbies are planning to bring an old-school attitude against the Tahs.

“It will always be there, and it is one of the great things about Super Rugby, these rivalries, and we need that,” skipper Stephen Moore said.

“We are going to embrace it. There are a number of people who have gone before us at the Brumbies and have gone hammer and tongs in this fixture, and we will go and out do that as well this Sunday. I am really looking forward to it, and all the boys are as well.”

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said the rivalry

​was born when many players fe​lt like NSW offcuts ​in 1996 ​when the​ new Super Rugby franchise​​ was created. ​​

“They were probably bitter and twisted they didn’t get an opportunity with the Waratahs, came to the Brumbies and proved they could actually mix it on that Super Rugby stage,” Larkham said.

“So we have that history to us. What we dislike the most now is that they’re the champions, and they’re the team to beat.

“Its like any team or competition in the world, you dislike them because you want to be in that position.”

Currently sitting on top of the ladder with a record of 4-1, the Brumbies are well on their way and their ambition of supplanting the Waratahs as not only champions of the Australian conference, but Super Rugby as well, can take a giant leap with victory this weekend.

A Brumbies win can see them open up a gap of up to 15 points on the Tahs in the conference; a lead ​mitigated​ by the fact NSW have had a bye but a huge break nonetheless.

“It could mean a lot to us. We realise can get a fair gap if we get a good result next week,” said Brumbies flanker Scott Fardy.

Waratahs star Kurtley Beale in space against the Brumbies during their sudden-death semi-final last year.

Winning in Sydney - either or east or west - hasn’t been easy for the Brumbies. The 26-8 semi-final defeat at Allianz Stadium was their 11th of 13 games since 1996, and Larkham discounted the current form struggles of the Waratahs as a factor.

“Playing the Waratahs in Sydney is always difficult. You can’t look at your form and think you are where you need to be,” he said.

“The current team and the way they’re currently playing, there’s not a lot to dislike. There is a lot to be concerned about.”

Having beaten the battling Reds twice, and Force and Rebels, the Brumbies’ are aware their sternest domestic challenge is this weekend.

“We’ve got the biggest one to come, and we always knew that was the case,” Moore said.

“We set this period right up to the bye as a way to set up our season, so far we have done a reasonable job there but this weekend is the centre piece of all that, I guess.”

Originally published as Super Rugby: Brumbies ready to go ‘hammer and tongs’ against arch-rivals Waratahs in Sydney on Sunday