NSW Waratahs captain Dave Dennis says this time it's personal, imploring his misfiring titleholders to physically dominate the Brumbies in Sunday's Super Rugby crunch match at Allianz Stadium.
Waratahs and Wallabies coach Michael Cheika can play it down all he likes, but Dennis says he'd be disappointed if his teammates didn't use the high-stakes derby stage as motivation to gain an edge over rival World Cup squad hopefuls.
All across the park, Waratahs and Brumbies representative stars will go head-to-head in front of Cheika and his Wallabies assistant Stephen Larkham, the Brumbies' head coach.
"I would like to think going if you're going up against a guy who potentially you could be up against further down the line (for representative spots), there'd be a bit more sting in the tackle," Dennis said.
"Just to show that you care. We've got to show that we care about playing for us, as a team.
"We've really got to turn up the volume in that contact area and the breakdown."
After drifting in and out of matches in an underwhelming two-from-four start to their title defence, coach Cheika has been demanding a lift in intensity from the minute the Waratahs lost to the Highlanders in Dunedin last Saturday.
Dennis is confident the Tahs will respond, saying there's been a steely edge to training all week.
"A little bit more sting in the tackles in running against the guys and everyone is just mentally switched on," the skipper said.
"There's still mistakes, which you try and fix in training, but the guys are just that little bit more conscious about having that edge.
"It's a big game. Obviously it's our biggest game of the year so far."
Trailing the Brumbies by 10 points, the Waratahs can potentially narrow the gap to five points with a bonus-point win.
Or they could fall as much as 15 competition points adrift of the outright competition leaders.
"We're conscious of the fact that the best chance to do well in the competition is to win your conference and get a home semi," Dennis said.
It's an age-old sporting cliche, but the Waratahs are more focused on getting the process right.
"We've been up and down, so we're really keen to try to get that full performance," he said.
"If we don't, then we probably won't get the result we want. So we're well aware of that.
"The Brumbies are a very well-balanced side who have been playing really well all season."
The match marks the return of champion flanker David Pocock, who will make his comeback from a month out battling ankle syndesmosis via the bench.
His breakdown battle with Wallabies captain Michael Hooper shapes as key.
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