Ahead of ACT men in the next fortnight are the two teams that sit just above them in the top-three on the ladder - first, the Blues in Auckland on Saturday, then the Hurricanes in Canberra the following weekend.

The Brumbies are coming off a bye week where some of the squad enjoyed a much-needed break, while others kept in tune playing John I Dent Cup footy in Canberra.

Coach Stephen Larkham said the time off was perfectly-timed before the Brumbies travel to New Zealand for a monster clash with the Blues, but the message to his team was to stay sharp and prepare to hit the ground running when they returned.

"These are a couple of really important games coming up," he told The Canberra Times.

"We allowed the boys to get away from the training environment just to try and freshen up mentally.

"The plan is to come back in feeling really refreshed and ready to get back into season.

"The Chiefs [loss] in round two was a good lesson for us and we have spoken since then about making sure we were training with the right intensity, and it'll be the same as that this week."

In the previous two seasons, the Blues and Brumbies have developed a strong rivalry, with all their matches in that time decided by five or fewer points, and Larkham anticipated another tight affair this weekend where closing out the game strong will be critical to securing an ACT victory.

"We would certainly expect this to be a really tough battle. We'd be expecting a game like this to be decided within the last 10-15 minutes," he said.

"They've had a really big forward pack which gives them a leg up at scrum and maul time, and we've seen some very dangerous attacking players from a forwards and backs perspective."

Larkham was excited to welcome vice-captain Andy Muirhead back to the training paddock on Tuesday following his knee injury and broken nose in the Brumbies' round four win over the Highlanders that also saw Len Ikitau pick up ligament damage to his knee.

The coach said centre Ikitau is still a few weeks away from returning, as is key prop and skipper Allan Alaalatoa (Achilles injury), but there were positive signs for outside-back Ben O'Donnell (ACL tear), "re-integrating into training" in recent weeks.

In the Super Rugby Women competition, the semi-final fixtures were confirmed with the Brumbies set to travel to Sydney to face the top-of-the-table NSW Waratahs on Friday.

In the other semi-final on the same day, the Fijian Drua will host the Western Force women in Suva as they eye an incredible third-straight title with a spot in the April 28 grand final at Ballymore up for grabs.

"After a thrilling regular season the 2024 Super Rugby Women's competition is set up for a spectacular finale," Rugby Australia women's boss Jilly Collins said.

"With grand final berths up for grabs in Suva and Sydney, we can't wait to see some of our game's greatest athletes fight it out for a place in the decider."

Super Rugby Pacific: Blues v Brumbies, Saturday 5.05pm in Auckland

Super Rugby W: Waratahs v Brumbies, Friday 5.45pm in Sydney