For the third straight year, the Brumbies are headed back to New Zealand for a Super Rugby Pacific semifinal.
Saturday night's win over the Highlanders in Canberra has earned them another crack at the Blues, two years after they were beaten by the Kiwis in a controversial finish at Eden Park.
Few Brumbies fans will have forgiven referee Ben O'Keeffe for his failure to award the ACT side a clear penalty late in the 79th minute of that contest for any of the three blatant infringements at a ruck 40 metres out from the Blues' line.
When prop Ofa Tu'unagafasi charged down Noah Lolesio's drop goal attempt a few moments later the game was done, and the Blues were through to their first Super Rugby final proper since 2003.
Perhaps, then, there was some justice when Leon MacDonald's side was so easily rolled by the Crusaders the following week.
Two seasons on this is arguably a better Blues side than the one that topped the regular-season ladder in 2022. MacDonald's replacement, Vern Cotter, has added a hardened edge to a group that already boasted a ruthless attacking streak, while No. 8 Hoskins Sotutu has been, along with the Brumbies' Tom Wright, the standout player in the competition.
And then there is the 0-17 trans-Tasman finals stat that is the Super Rugby equivalent of the Wallabies' 20-year Bledisloe drought - no Australian team has ever won a finals match on New Zealand soil.
That is a mighty hurdle to overcome, the Chiefs' first-half wipeout of the Reds a timely reminder of just how tough it is to win across the ditch in the postseason. Queensland needed to start well in Hamilton, instead they conceded four tries inside 23 minutes to eventually head to the sheds at halftime 31-0 down.
"The experience of the last two years is going to be massive for us. Last year and the year before is probably the first time the boys have been over to New Zealand and experienced what it's like to play at Eden Park as well, so we're going to lean on those experiences from the boys who were there," Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa said Monday.
"But you think about the squad that's here now, they've been around for a number of years and were involved in those last two years, so the experience of playing semifinals over there is going to be massive for us."
While the Brumbies understand they will need to start fast to be any chance against the Blues on Friday, they have a bigger challenge on their hands at the scrum. The only reason the Highlanders were in the contest at halftime in Canberra was down to the Brumbies' set-piece, which the Kiwis put under huge pressure to earn several penalties from referee Angus Gardner.
And the Blues' scrum is even better than their Kiwi counterparts, though one that will feel the loss of skipper Patrick Tuipulotu.
The big concern for the Brumbies is that their set-piece has been routinely dominated this season, even when Wallabies props James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa were both playing. One such occasion came in Round 11 against the Drua - on the weekend the Blues obliterated the Fijians' scrum.
"In terms of a scrum perspective, it's a lot of technical stuff, which the front-row are now clear on how we can make adjustments on the run," Alaalatoa said. "But the boys know that that's an area of improvement for us; we'll hit that hard this week and we know that it's going to be a great challenge which the boys will be ready for."
While Slipper said Saturday night he was a chance to return for the semifinal, so poor has the Brumbies' scrum been this season - their 72% success rate was the worst of any team in the competition -- that it is hard to see just what impact that will have, if any.
And then there is the Brumbies' general physicality, which was just as lacklustre in their defeats by the Blues and Chiefs -- their only two losses of the 2024 season.
If the Brumbies don't meet the physical challenge of the Blues, who boast four other All Blacks in their pack even without Tuipulotu, they will be nothing more than the 17th notch on Australia's trans-Tasman finals ledger.
"You try and learn those lessons after [losses], but that was a tough lesson, and that was something we addressed straight away and something that we had to apply throughout the rest of the season. And the boys have been really good learning from that," Alaalatoa said when asked about the Brumbies' regular season loss in Auckland.
"And we know that that's coming but we also know more importantly what we're going to bring, we've got to be better in that aspect and what we deliver there and I know that we will."
From a holistic point-of-view, Super Rugby Pacific could really use a Brumbies win on Friday. While Australia's contingent performed better against the Kiwis as a collective in 2024, the competition needs some of that improved unpredictability for its finals series, too.
Improve their scrum [significantly], make a fast start and aim up physically, then the Brumbies might just be a chance of ending Australia's wretched finals run across the ditch, or at least be in a position where they are not dudded by another referee howler at the death.