Rugby-Brumbies put nose in front in two-horse Australian race

MELBOURNE, June 6 (Reuters) - ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham is looking forward to a "massive" game against the Canterbury Crusaders next week as the Canberra side bid to cement a top-two spot and a home semi-final in the Super Rugby playoffs. Fired by a hat-trick of tries from flanker David Pocock, the Brumbies thrashed Western Force 33-20 in a bonus-point victory in Perth on Friday to leap-frog the defending champion New South Wales Waratahs to the top of the Australian conference. The Waratahs can bridge the five-point gap to the Brumbies with a big win over the lowly Cheetahs in Bloemfontein later on Saturday, meaning the final round of the regular season could be a cliff-hanger for the Australian contenders. Larkham was an assistant to former coach Jake White when the Brumbies qualified third for the 2013 playoffs. Though they battled into the final after upsetting the Bulls at the end of a long road trip to South Africa, they were over-hauled by the Chiefs in New Zealand for the title. "If you finish third, there's a fair bit of travel," Larkham said. "We really need a good performance next week to give ourselves the best chance of getting in the top two. "We've known from the last couple of years you can't rest here and you can't just get to the finals and say that's a good season, we really need a top two finish. "Next week is going to be a massive game for us." With wins from their last three matches, the two-time champion Brumbies are peaking at the right time but could face a stiff challenge from the Crusaders, who may still be in the playoff hunt. Force coach Michael Foley rated the Brumbies as one of the "better defensive sides in the competition" and lamented his side's failure to shut down their maul. "The Brumbies are a tough side to play at any stage, coming into this period of the season where they are chasing finals," he said. (Writing by Ian Ransom; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)