ANALYSIS: Why winning records don't mean a thing for Australia's Super Rugby title hopefuls
If there's something to fire a team back into form quick smart, it's surely the prospect of their season ending with a loss.The Auckland-based Blues finished the regular season with 13 straight wins and wrapped up the top spot with a week to spare. Yet even with a home final on Saturday, if they have an off night and lose to the eighth-placed Highlanders, their season is over.
Pre-empting this would be the case, the Reds stayed in New Zealand for the week rather than returning to Brisbane and then flying back. Though a week of wet weather in the south island's Garden City was something they couldn't plan for. McDermott said being in a genuine rugby city, where everyone knew the game was on Friday night, had been great to experience as part of the finals build-up, but the Reds were under no illusion about to the size of the task this weekend."But not too many teams get two cracks in consecutive weeks. We know we're underdogs and we're loving that title. No-one expects us to do anything.
"We've said all year that we bring the physicality, but we've actually got to do that. Otherwise we'll be watching the rest of the finals from home." The Waratahs copped a hammering from the Chiefs in round 10, but followed that up with some quality performances: a 24-21 win over the Crusaders in Sydney and a 26-20 win over Moana Pasifika in Auckland, at the time their first win in New Zealand since 2015.
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