Thrift Shop and Gillard: How long it's been since Brumbies won at Eden Park

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham says "traditionally, it's probably our hardest game of the season whenever you have to play at Eden Park".

Because every time the Brumbies face the Blues at Auckland's famed fortress, it seems they walk away with Super Rugby title dreams in tatters, blood pouring from Scott Fardy's head or their tails between their legs.

Not since Matt To'omua, Nic White and Christian Leali'ifano orchestrated a 20-13 victory in 2013 have the Brumbies won at Eden Park. The Brumbies went on to reach the Super Rugby decider that year.

Now a trip across the Tasman could make or break the Brumbies' hopes of a semi-final on home turf as two of Super Rugby Pacific's top three teams collide on Saturday night.

Larkham says "what we did in the first seven rounds really doesn't count for anything" with the Brumbies now bracing for their toughest assignments - back-to-back games against the ladder-leading Blues and Hurricanes.

"This will be our biggest challenge so far," Larkham said.

"The boys are very focused from what I've seen this week. If I compare it to the Chiefs week [when the Brumbies lost 46-12 during Super Round in Melbourne], we had a similar scenario - a couple of days off over the weekend on the back of a Friday game and we came in a bit sloppy that week. It's chalk and cheese.

"You don't want to fall into the trap of getting complacent. This is our first challenge, we've got the Hurricanes next week, which is two big New Zealand teams in a row, the top-of-the-table New Zealand teams two weeks in a row is a tough challenge.

"If you have a look at our run in the first round of games, I think we were relatively lucky in terms of our draw. We came up against some teams who were potentially not hitting their straps. We've seen a lot of those teams that we played against improve since we played them.

"This is a challenge, this is really good for us. There's 10 games to get to the final, including the final, so it's a long run now. We know through the competition there's going to be challenges around injuries, we're in a really good position at the moment because all but two of our players are basically available for selection.

"First step for us is overcoming the opponent this weekend, and then we'll move onto the game next weekend."

The last Australian team to head to Eden Park? The Western Force, who were battered by 47 points last week. The Blues are a genuine Super Rugby heavyweight, having dropped just one game this season while boasting the competition's best points differential.

But Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu knows the Brumbies present a far tougher task, saying "this is pretty much our Test match".

While we're talking Test matches - Australia have not won at Eden Park since Bob Hawke was Prime Minister and Crocodile Dundee was in cinemas. It's been a long wait since September 1986.

Because for ACT fans, 11 years has been long enough.