Brumbies held honesty session after Reds defeat to address departure of Jake White

THE Brumbies’ four-match winning streak can be traced back to a team meeting in the GIO Stadium sheds to address the “White elephant” in the room.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 22: Matt Toomua of the Brumbies is tackled during the round six Super Rugby match between the Brumbies and the Stormers at Canberra Stadium on March 22, 2014 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Stefan Postles/Getty Images)

THE Brumbies’ incredible four-match winning streak can be traced back to a frank team meeting in the Canberra Stadium sheds to address the “White elephant” in the room.

Last year’s grand finalists had just been thumped in the first round by Queensland, and immediately thoughts turned to the departure of mastercoach Jake White.

Director of coaching Laurie Fisher pulled the dejected Brumbies in.

“He said, ‘There is no doubt people will be saying Jake is gone, we’re not as good as we were’,” Brumbies five-eighth Matt Toomua revealed.

“We were a bit shell-shocked but he said ‘You know we’ve been training well, and this is just the first game’.

“We knew deep down it was a long season. It was a very disappointing result but we knew there were a lot of games to come.

“And the other thing, the Reds were so up for that game, I think most teams would have struggled against them that night.”

One month on, and Toomua has declared the Brumbies can handle the pressure of being front-runners again after reclaiming top spot in the Australian conference and soaring to second overall.News_Rich_Media: ACT Brumbies head coach Laurie Fisher talks the media through the importance of the Brumbies win over the Stormers.

The form team of the Super Rugby competition, the Brumbies have beaten Western Force, Hurricanes, Waratahs and Stormers after the disappointing first-round 27-17 loss to the Reds.

Ironically, White is now in charge of the Durban-based Sharks, the only team above the Brumbies on the ladder.

But Toomua also said White continues to help the Brumbies, despite his controversial off-season defection.

“Jake was unbelievable for us, he got a lot of basics down-pat, what we’re benefiting from is what he instilled in Bernie [coach Stephen Larkham] and Laurie,” Toomua said.

“We’re starting to play a bit more but that would have been impossible without what we’ve learned before.

“I don’t want to say that Jake has left and suddenly the shackles are off, it has been built off the back of the foundation we laid down last year.

“It is going to be a lot harder to be front runners, if you look at the Australian conference, it is the form conference of the competition right now.

“The Force are winning, the Waratahs have shown what they can do, and the Reds are always strong.

“Given previous years, expectation is not something we’ve been used to, but being in the final last year, we’ve got to cop it.News_Rich_Media: ACT Brumbies winger Robbie Coleman scores an unlikely try against the Stormers

“The best way to deal with that is to find specifics to focus on in your game.

“You let the outside talk be white noise, keep your head down and worry about what you can control.”

The Brumbies face the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday night and as they did so viciously well against the Waratahs, will focus on defensive line speed for the encounter.

The 25-15 win over the Stormers last Saturday was especially rewarding after an injury crisis robbed the Brumbies of five automatic starters.

But Wallabies centres Christian Lealiifano and Tevita Kuridrani are expected to return to the side: Lealiifano from an ankle reconstruction and Kuridani after attending a funeral in Fiji.

However, prop Scott Sio, lock Leon Power and winger Henry Speight will remain sidelined for an expected five weeks while David Pocock is out for the year.

Brumbies hooker Stephen Moore reported a stiff knee after the Stormers match but is expected to be fit for the Melbourne trip.

Meanwhile, Force halfback Alby Mathewson faces suspension for an alleged trample on Chiefs flanker Sam Cane during the westerners’ huge upset win last weekend.

Mathewson was cited by the SANZAR judiciary under Law 10.4 (b) – “a player must not stamp or trample an opponent” over the third-minute incident.

It was the lone sour note as the Force racked up their third win in a row and biggest scalp of the year, beating the defending champions 18-15 courtesy of two tries from skipper Matt Hodgson.