'He's in a bit of pain': Brumbies hit with injury concern in Rebels romp

The Brumbies kept their hopes of a top-two finish alive with a dominant 53-17 win over the Melbourne Rebels at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

The 36-point margin marks the ACT's biggest win over Melbourne since the Rebels' inception and helps to close the gap between the Brumbies and Super Rugby's top two - but it may have come at a cost.

On a night the Brumbies copped three yellow cards, Slipper left the field in the 38^th minute with the 34-year-old's fitness to be a major talking point heading into the final round of the regular season.

"He's in a bit of pain," Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said.

"It just got progressively worse as the half went on. It's a high calf at this stage, that's probably a better outcome than something through the belly.

"He's very keen to play next week but we've got to make a smart decision. We might just have to be smart next week in terms of what we do with our selections."

The stage is now set for an all-out attacking raid when the Brumbies head west in the final round, hunting a bonus point - while hoping other cards fall their way - which could put them on the cusp of a home ground advantage deep into the Super Rugby Pacific finals.

Wherever they end up, you can just about pencil in fullback Tom Wright for a try. His double means he has now scored nine in as many games during a scintillating run of form.

His first came as part of a first-half onslaught which saw the Rebels concede 21 points while winger Darby Lancaster was in the bin, and the second left you wondering if he has done enough to play himself into a Wallabies jersey.

The Brumbies raced to a 34-3 lead before half-time, but the night soured when Jahrome Brown, Tamati Tua and Len Ikitau were shown yellow cards, reducing the Brumbies to 13 men for two separate periods.

The hosts finished with a flurry to move to 48 competition points, but their finals fate isn't entirely in their own hands.

The ACT's hopes of a top-two finish were dealt a minor blow across the Tasman earlier on Friday night, with a 78th-minute Brett Cameron penalty handing the Hurricanes a 20-17 win over the Chiefs in Hamilton.

The punters can say what they want about the controversial penalty, but the Hurricanes have now moved to the top of the table - if only for 24 hours - on 51 competition points. The second-placed Blues [50 points] face the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.

History suggests finishing in the top two matters. Twenty-four of 26 Super Rugby champions have won the competition from either first or second on the ladder.

The Brumbies will host a quarter-final regardless of how the final days of the regular season pan out, with Canberra Stadium locked in for a Saturday night clash on June 8.

As it stands, Melbourne will be boarding another flight to Canberra. A quarter-final could even be the final game in the Rebels' history as uncertainty continues to hover over their place in the competition beyond this season.

Rebels coach Kevin Foote is adamant his side can flip the script should they return to Canberra.

"We speak about mindset all the time. If you don't believe it, don't come. You can't come back here and not believe you can win," Foote said.

"There'll be lessons in that for us, but no doubt, we'll be confident. We've had a few niggles, like everybody at this time of year, your squad is getting stretched a bit. There'll be a few guys back, so it's all about timing, isn't it? Coming back with a bit of belief."

Before then, the Brumbies head to Perth to face Nic White and the Western Force to close out the regular season.

AT A GLANCE

Super Rugby Pacific round 14: ACT BRUMBIES 53 (Tom Wright 2, Jahrome Brown, Nick Frost, Billy Pollard, Rhys van Nek, Luke Reimer tries; Noah Lolesio 6 conversions; Lolesio 2 penalties) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 17 (Filip Daugunu, Angelo Smith tries; Jake Strachan 2 conversions; Nick Jooste penalty) at Canberra Stadium.