Making a strong start, and imposing their game, would be the goal for the Hurricanes in their Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinal against the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday.

Coach Jason Holland said they wanted to take on the tight five and their set-piece, he said.

"We don't want to wait and see what the Brumbies have got for us, we want to go in and impose our game and the physicality is going to be massive around that," he said.

"There's some clear trends around the way the Brumbies play. We've concentrated on those things and how we need to combat them, but also how we're going to play against them," he said.

Holland said he enjoyed the competition within the Hurricanes squad and, while that made selection harder, it was better for the team. As a result, they had named a team they believed was capable of achieving the type of performance they had sought all season, while it was also a team they felt could beat the Brumbies.

Their kicking game was one area they expected the Brumbies would retain. The Hurricanes coped with that in their earlier game but lacked the accuracy to take toll of their opportunities.

It would be no surprise to the Brumbies that the Hurricanes would aim to play with tempo, making the breakdown crucial.

The choice of two opensides in Du'Plessis Kirifi and Blake Gibson, along with Ardie Savea at No8, meant they would be into everything, and the physicality would be intense.

 

 

"In quarterfinals it doesn't matter who you play, you've got to take every opportunity and make sure the pressure's on the opposition and understanding how to defuse their kicking game is a massive part of that," he said.

All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara will become the first player to post 150 games for the Hurricanes in the game, a total he said it didn't feel like he had played. But he wasn't thinking too much about the milestone. The game was more on his mind.

Playoffs time was what playing rugby was all about. It was why so much effort went in during the pre-season to prepare to give yourself a chance of winning a championship, he said.

It was also important to try and win each moment. 

"You can't dwell on things that have happened in the past, you can't think about things that might be happening a couple of plays ahead. You need to be excellent in each moment. And if you win that moment you win it, and if you lose it, you lose it and move on pretty quickly," he said.

Consistency across the course of the game, and who could win more moments were most important.

Perenara said he was happy with how his game was shaping and was enjoying seeing competition emerge across the country in the halfback position.

"The ability to have 9s playing well in our country is only a good thing for all of us," he said.