ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham is confident the side is peaking at the right time to take down the Blues in Friday's semi-final.
The Brumbies will land in Auckland late on Wednesday night as they look to become the first Australian team to win a finals game in New Zealand off a six-day turnaround.
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They went down 46-7 in April but have not lost a game since as they ride a seven-game winning streak.
As they find themselves in their third-straight semi-final, Larkham believes they are primed to be at their best as they look for a breakthrough finals victory.
"It’s not looking back on last year, it’s a motivation to win every game," Larkham said.
“We’ve been over to Auckland already this year and we didn’t have a very successful day so we’ve learnt some lessons from that.
“We’re also on a bit of a roll in terms of our ability to win games. I thought our game on the weekend was pretty spot on first half, one defensive lapse and a few discipline issues around the scrum and breakdown but outside of that, it was a pretty complete game.
“We’ve been building all year to get our best performances in the finals and we’re looking to take it a step further from last week where a few things hurt us.
“We want to make sure we’re a little more clinical in all aspects of our game.”
The return of James Slipper is a major boost for their scrum, which was targeted by the Highlanders last weekend.
Larkham believes this along with the absence of Patrick Tuipulotu for the Blues can provide an opportunity for the Brumbies.
“We’ve worked pretty hard and having James Slipper back in the team is certainly strengthening our prospects at scrum time," Larkham added.
“They’ve had an injury to their captain and second-rower who is pretty integral to their scrum so we’d like to think we’ll have at least parity on the weekend.”
