The China Mail - Larkham says Brumbies peaking at right time ahead of Super Rugby semi

The Canberra-based side travel to Hamilton for the bumper clash on Saturday with an unchanged squad for the first time this season, spearheaded by a slew of Wallabies including Allan Alaalatoa and James Slipper.

But they are battling the odds, having exited in the semi-finals to New Zealand clubs in the last three years, while the Chiefs are unbeaten against them in four games.

Larkham said he was optimistic they can make the final, which will be in Canberra if they beat the Chiefs and the Auckland Blues topple the Canterbury Crusaders in the other last-four clash.

"The boys are peaking at the right time. I thought they played really well on the weekend," he said, referring to their 35-28 takedown of the in-form Wellington Hurricanes in their elimination final.

"The selection is based on performance, but we also certainly want continuity going into the finals. And it's nice to have at this stage of the season.

"We'll make sure that we keep our emotions in check this week. The boys can get a lot of confidence out of the way that we're playing.

"There's a lot of stats that show that we're playing very good footy and we've also shown consistency throughout the season."

The Chiefs have been the standout club all season and are looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time this year after a 20-19 defeat to the defending champion Blues last weekend.

Larkham said the Brumbies would not be "copying" the Blues' playbook, with his team "in a pretty good space in terms of our routine".

"We've got a plan this week in terms of some of the stuff that we've been building on through the year, and then some specific stuff for the Chiefs," he said.

"There's a few challenges. The Chiefs are different to the Hurricanes.

"We certainly want to make sure that we get the detail. We respect the opposition. We know what threats they bring."

D.Wang--ThChM