No place like home as Australia s best hunt playoff edge

SYDNEY - The ACT Brumbies and Queensland Reds have carried the heaviest loads to fire Australias Super Rugby revival this year and Saturdays round 14 clash will decide which of them has the best shot at breaking New Zealands stranglehold on the top two.

A top-two finish in the regular-season standings guarantees home advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs, an edge that no team from outside New Zealand has enjoyed in the three years of Super Rugby Pacific.

The Canberra-based Brumbies know to their cost how big of an advantage it is, having got through the opening round of the playoffs in all three seasons only to bow out at the semi-final stage on the other side of the Tasman Sea.

With the competition-leading Waikato Chiefs on a bye, the Brumbies will go top on Saturday if they can overcome the fourth-placed Reds in the Australian capital.

Currently the two best Australian teams going at it and an important game for us, Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said after naming his team on Wednesday.

The Reds are sitting comfortably in the top six but, like us, would like to finish high in the ladder as it gives you the best opportunity to go well into the finals.

Both teams will have backups at flyhalf after Brumbies pivot Noah Lolesio and Reds playmaker Tom Lynagh suffered concussions last weekend, but it may be absences in the forwards that have a bigger impact.

While the Brumbies are also without in-form flanker Luke Reimer (concussion),the Reds have added locks Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (shoulder) and Seru Uru (knee) to a casualty list already featuring Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson.

A slip-up by the Brumbies would allow the 12-times champion Canterbury Crusaders to move into the top two but only if they can snap