VIDEO: Waratahs keen to break trans-Tasman drought

The Brumbies' 8-21 defeat at home to the Crusaders on Saturday was the 36th losing game for Australian teams against New Zealand opposition.

The Australian conference leaders, who had a bye, take on Tana Umaga's injury-blighted Blues in Sydney on Saturday, who have won just two of their nine matches this season.

Playing the Blues comes at an opportune time for the Waratahs. The Aucklanders have lost almost an entire backline outside No.10, they have issues at the scrum and lineout and the dangerous Ioane brothers are starved of attacking opportunities.

The Blues are the first New Zealand side the Waratahs will face this season.

"From my experience, I think the way the [New Zealanders] play is probably a little bit faster, so I don't think we should change our style or anything," " Waratahs lock Rob Simmons told reporters.

"I remember a few years ago when we used to play the Hurricanes, they love to throw [the ball] around, they'd have a lot of turnovers and they would also have a lot of points leaked, but they would create a lot of points," he said.

"If you get into that, they're going to beat you every time,"

Despite heading into the match as favourites, Simmons is fully aware of how easily the Australian conference-leaders can be exploited, evident in their humiliating 0-29 loss to the Lions before their bye.

Nonetheless, the lock is confident his team have learned ahead of the critical match. 

"I think that's what experience gets you," he said.

"You've got a couple of young guys that when the ball gets thrown around, the crowd starts getting into it, you want to start doing a few of those things and if they come off, you get points and you can win games off them, but if you don't practise it during the week, then it's hard for the rest of the team to run off it.

"So you're offloading to no one and things like that.

"You need to do what you practise during the week, execute the best you can and as fast as you can,"

Agence France-Presse