Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles believes the prospect of an explosive clash with the Waratahs will steel his side and get their finals hopes back on track.
On the back of a disappointing 23-15 loss to the struggling Hurricanes at Canberra Stadium on Friday night, Hoiles believes facing up to their local rival will help the Brumbies quickly get their mojo back.
"It's not hard to focus on next week," Hoiles said after the game.
"Like I said to the guys, 'you might be disappointed now but you've got to wake up tomorrow with a smile on your face cause we get to play the Waratahs next week'."
"It's traditionally our most exciting game, the best game of our year and is probably the best game to go into after a disappointing loss. The guys will be determined to do better."
Missing six frontline players through injury, the Brumbies held a 5-3 lead at half-time before the visitors hit back in the second term to run out 10-point victors, ending the Brumbies eight-match home winning streak.
"We're disappointed, and probably didn't deserve to win in the end," said Hoiles.
"You can handle losses where you outplay the opposition, and that's not to take anything away from them (the Hurricanes), but I think our lack of execution in the first half off a lot of possession and a lack of discipline in the second half probably cost us."
"We weren't giving Phibbsy enough clean ball from the breakdown, he was probably getting a lot of loose hands from the Hurricanes coming through, so that was the forwards fault, we weren't delivering for him."
"And the discipline in the second half was pretty ordinary," Hoiles added.
The loss was also an opportunity missed for players looking to impress Wallaby coaches Robbie Deans and David Nucifora, who took in the game from the grandstand.
"Look to be honest I think Robbie watches every game. So hopefully that wasn't in the players' minds 'cause our coaching staff is just as disappointed, while we're playing for the Brumbies that is all that really matters to us," Hoiles said.