Post-match sleeping pills get Brumbies onto New Zealand time after famous Pretoria win

IT was one Super Rugby's best wins, but instead of celebrating their victory over the Bulls the Brumbies took sleeping pills and went straight to bed.

IT was one of the most famous victories in Super Rugby, but instead of celebrating their historic win over the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend the Brumbies took sleeping pills and went straight to bed.

As part of the meticulous planning and preparation for Saturday's Super Rugby grand final against the Chiefs, the Brumbies players have adhered to a strict schedule to have them in prime physical condition despite their horror travel demands over the past month.

Brumbies coach Jake White had anticipated weeks ago that his side would make the decider, and set about planning logistics for each leg of a 31,000km program in the past month that has seen them play games in Perth, Canberra, Pretoria and now Hamilton.

White and his coaching team learnt lessons from last year's tournament when the Durban-based Sharks won playoff games in Brisbane and then Cape Town, before being blown away by the fresher Chiefs in Hamilton in the grand final.

"It's not just last weekend (when the Brumbies became the first team to beat the Bulls away in a finals match), we've been to Perth three weeks ago, then to Canberra, then to Pretoria, now to Hamilton," White said after touching down in New Zealand on Thursday.

"It's a tough ask but you just look at the Sharks last year, you saw what that took out of them in the last week of the competition, I think we've got to do everything in our power in terms of recovery, making sure we give ourselves a fair crack.

"And we've done that by, straight after the Bulls game, went into Aussie time, took our sleeping tablets, took our meal and went to bed."

While they were in South Africa, the Brumbies played cricket every morning so players were exposed to sunlight early in the day and adjusted quicker to the time zone. But as soon as they triumphed 26-23 at Loftus Versfeld, the players were being geared towards the New Zealand time zone.

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No team in history has won a Super Rugby title by winning successive away games in South Africa and New Zealand, but White is confident he is coaching history-makers.

"This group, we beat the (British & Irish) Lions, first team to beat the Bulls at Loftus (in a playoff game and in 2013), the challenge is an opportunity," White said. "You just need to embrace it.

"To be a Brumbies team coming to play a Chiefs team who are defending champions in the final in New Zealand, that's why we get up in the mornings and go to work, because we want to have these sort of occasions presented to us.

"This Brumbies team has exceeded all expectation and it is just never ceases to amaze me. Every time they get a challenge they present themselves perfectly."

White said it was imperative his side made a strong start at Waikato Stadium.