Pain of semi-final loss driving ACT Brumbies pursuit of Super Rugby glory

The Brumbies fell to the Chiefs 19-6 in a hard-fought affair in Hamilton.

Points were hard to come by in the rain and the match was hanging in the balance, waiting for a piece of individual brilliance or game-breaking play.

The Brumbies were controversially denied an opportunity to hit the front with less than 15 minutes to play before Chiefs playmaker Damian McKenzie produced the line break that set up Brodie Retallick's match-sealing try in the 78^th minute.

The moment will stick with the team throughout the off-season and Larkham said it provided a key lesson around what it takes to win Super Rugby finals.

"It was one of our best defensive efforts until that last line break. We didn't give them anything. Our discipline was outstanding, definitely our best performance from a discipline perspective," he said.

"It comes down to small margins. We work the whole year, guys have been in this program for five years now, even longer. You play for these big moments, big games and we let another one slip here but we got a lot of growth and learning out of this year.

"Out of all the experience we got around winning close games this year, we'll take this experience on board for next year and see if we can improve on this result next year."

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Saturday's loss marked the end of an era, assistant coach Laurie Fisher headlining a group of departing players and staff.

Fellow assistant Dam Palmer is leaving to join Dan McKellar in England, while Nic White and Pete Samu punctuate a group of five players who will say goodbye.

Having played a role in so much success across two stints at the franchise, White is disappointed he won't have a chance to lead ACT in the bid for redemption next year.

"We're not in the business of playing semi-finals and thinking close enough is good enough," White said.

"We felt we were good enough to get the job done. It was right there for us and we felt we let this one slip. Within the group there's a whole lot of belief and it will continue to grow. The guys within the group are young and more experience is good for them but there's a reason they're hurting. It was there for us."

While White and Samu are leaving, the Brumbies have managed to avoid the usual post-World Cup exodus.

Instead, a group led by Wallabies Allan Alaalatoa, Rob Valetini and Tom Wright re-signed with the club with an eye to the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour and 2027 World Cup in Australia.

A host of emerging stars also took significant strides this season, Corey Toole bursting on to the scene and making the transition from sevens look easy.

Up front, Blake Schoupp and Tom Hooper appear destined to play for Australia and Luke Reimer continued to make an impact.

It's also easy to forget 2023 was Larkham's first in charge since he returned from Ireland. He said the entire program would grow from this year's challenges.

"We've got a really good opportunity now over the next 12 months to improve on this performance," Larkham said.

"There's a lot of work to do in the off-season to make sure we hit the season running. We had a number of games this year that were close and could've gone either way, which we came out on top. We have to make sure next year we're performing better for a longer period in games.

"The off-season's important for us. It's different for Australian and New Zealand teams. We'll have a long time to work together. The Wallabies will go away and be part of the World Cup campaign but the other guys will be in and around the program, playing in the local competition in Canberra.

"As soon as that season finishes in September we're hard into work to make sure our performances are better next year. We're lucky enough, when you look at the squad, to keep most of the guys together. Five guys are moving on, but outside of that we've kept the squad together. When you keep teams together it's an opportunity to take it one step further next year."

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