The ACT Brumbies are ready to write the final chapter of the tale of two cities and put their four match losing streak to the Melbourne Rebels into the history books.
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Dan McKellar's side are looking to claim their first win over the Rebels in three Super Rugby seasons when they host the Victorians at Canberra Stadium on Friday.
The Brumbies beat Melbourne by 31 points in their only pre-season clash last month, but the result acted as a firm reminder for the players to not get carried away with trial-form seduction.
They've defeated the Rebels in trial matches in each of the past three years, but haven't beaten them in the regular season since 2017.
The biggest challenge, however, will be making sure the Brumbies can back-up Friday's brutal 27-24 win over the Queensland Reds.
The new breed of Brumbies were welcomed by 39.5 degree heat for their season-opener at Canberra Stadium, but managed to conquer scorching conditions with a come-back in the second half.
The victory puts the wheels in motion for their conference title defence, but flanker Tom Cusack says there's still a lot to be learned as they prepare for their round-two clash with Melbourne.
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"We had a good hit out against [the Rebels] the other week," Cusack said.
"It puts us in good stead to play them again, we've beaten them in every single trials over the last couple of years only to lose to them both times throughout the season.
"We'll put them at the top of our priority list, we've got a lot of learning from [round one] to push forward into the next. We have to take those and learn from them.
"We set the foundations and were happy with the win, but not with how we performed. There's a lot of learning to be done moving forward."
The victory extended the Brumbies' home winning-streak to nine matches, but their last loss at the venue came by the Rebel's hands.
Their interstate rivalry goes back to Melbourne's inaugural Super Rugby season in 2011, when their one-point victory over the Brumbies led to the sensational sacking of coach Andy Friend.
The Brumbies have since won nine of their 17 meetings and will be looking to return to their winning ways later this week.
But McKellar's men won't be the only team out for redemption.
Melbourne kicked off their Super Rugby campaign on a sour-note on Saturday, crashing to the soon-to-be-culled Sunwolves 36-27 in Japan.
Asked of what he thought of the result, McKellar said the Brumbies won't read too much into it nor take the Rebels lightly in round two.
"The Rebels won't be the last team to go to Japan and get beaten by the Sunwolves, that's for sure," McKellar said.
"It's a tough place to play and they had to go to Fukuoka Oval which makes it even harder.
"The Sunwolves are dangerous, if you are a little bit complacent they can hurt you. They have very good footballers across the park.
"The last thing we'll be doing is reading too much into that result and getting complacent. We know the Rebels are a very good football side."
SUPER RUGBY ROUND TWO
Friday: ACT Brumbies v Melbourne Rebels at Canberra Stadium, 7.15pm.