The Brumbies aren’t hitting the panic button yet despite dropping to second place in the Australian Super Rugby conference and slumping to a record low in Canberra.
The Brumbies were thumped 14-40 by the Crusaders on Sunday and this was their biggest ever loss at home and the surpasses their previous worst defeat which was to the Chiefs just three weeks ago.
The Crusaders victory was their third in a row in Canberra which they have never achieved in over 20 years of playing Super Rugby.
Adding pain to the Brumbies woe is that the loss has also come at a cost with potential injuries to co-captain Stephen Moore (calf) and winger Joe Tomane (ankle).
The Crusaders are on a roll though as they are unbeaten in their last seven matches this season and Sunday’s victory is their sixth straight win over the Brumbies who last beat the Christchurch side in 2009.
The Brumbies have played eight matches and won five, lost three and have conceded 40 points or more in both of their recent matches against New Zealand sides.
The Brumbies only have a victory over the Waratahs in Sydney during Round Eight as a recent positive which is a world away from the opening round when they last year’s Super Rugby final hosts the Hurricanes 52-10.
The Brumbies must now travel to Invercargill in New Zealand this weekend to play Super Rugby champions the Highlanders who have lost their last two matches and are desperate to get back to winning ways.
“The way the scores have racked up, the 48 points that the Chiefs scored against us was a record here at GIO Stadium was disappointing, and then again tonight,” Larkham told AAP.
“There’s certainly areas we need to work on.”
“But we certainly don’t want to panic and read too much into (it).
“The ladder is irrelevant, it’s how we play. If we get our preparation right and we perform the way we want to play, we’ll look at the ladder at the end of the season.”
The Brumbies errors cost them dearly against the Crusaders who took advantage when they could as four of their six tries came from mistakes made by the Canberra side.
“We just made mistakes and they capitalised on turnovers like they’ve done all year,” Moore said.
“We spoke about it before the game, how important that was and I guess that’s one of the most disappointing things, that we didn’t execute it.
“For us now, we’ve lost two out of the last three so the next game is so important for us.”
