By Darren Walton 

The ACT Brumbies will carry a no-tomorrow siege mentality into their must-win Super Rugby Pacific showdown with the Highlanders in Canberra.

Finals mainstays of the past decade, the fifth-placed Brumbies are at risk of tumbling out of the top six ahead of a season-defining month-long stretch of gruelling encounters.

A first defeat to the NSW Waratahs in seven years has left Australia’s perennial benchmark outfit feeling the heat ahead of the Highlanders challenge at GIO Stadium on Friday night.

Winning is non-negotiable before a points-less bye round next week followed by away games against the Queensland Reds and Moana Pasifika and testing home fixtures against the Waratahs and Hurricanes.

“(Winning) is very important. There’s no looking around it,” Brumbies hooker Billy Pollard said at Thursday’s captain’s run.

“But we’re just trying to focus on what we can control. if we get too caught up on the coming weeks and the result of the game, a lot of it probably won’t work out the way you want.

“So we’re just focusing on what we can control going forward and particularly tomorrow night.”

Coach Stephen Larkham concedes his side has “work to do” to stay in touch with the competition leaders.

But while stung by the Brumbies’ first defeat to the Waratahs in 14 meetings, Larkham knows there is no time to mope with only a six-day turnaround before facing the seventh-placed Highlanders.

“We’ve had to move on pretty quickly,” he said.

“There’s nothing you can do about a decision that’s happened or a result that’s occurred.

“So quickly back into the mindset of focusing on the Highlanders.

“Sitting in the top six is not where we want to be. You want to be right up the top, top two.

“So we have some work to do.”

Humbly declaring his try-scoring double in the corresponding fixture last year as a “fluke” from short range, Pollard is expecting a torrid battle with the New Zealand south islanders.

“They’ll be very good, as always,” Pollard said.

” I think they’ve got even better from last year, this year, and they’re going from strength to strength and they have a lot of threats across the board.

“So they’ll be extremely tough and we’re just looking to try to nullify their threats, but also just focus on the executing our own game too.”

The Brumbies face an even more important clash in the Super Rugby Women’s match against the Waratahs that will serve as a tasty appetiser to the men’s match on Friday.

While the Waratahs can seal another minor premiership with victory, the home team must win to scrape into the finals that start next week.