It's an understatement to say there's not much separating the Brumbies and the Queensland Reds in the top tier of Australian rugby.
In three meetings across the 2021 Super Rugby AU season, Queensland won all three matches — including the final — by an aggregate of just seven points.
It was a similar tale in 2020, but with the Brumbies holding the upper hand.
The Canberra side won by three points in the old Super Rugby tournament before it was suspended in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then by two points in the initial meeting in the revamped Super Rugby AU competition.
Queensland won 26-7 toward the end of that inaugural season before the Brumbies triumphed by three in the first final.
Head-to-head, the Reds have won four of the past seven clashes – but a total margin of just 36 points separates the two sides. That's a fraction over one try between them per game when they've met over the past two seasons. It's no wonder it's recognised by many as the biggest rivalry in Australian rugby at the moment.
"Oh, currently it is, yeah," Brumbies coach Dan McKellar told ABC Sport this week.
"Waratahs games [and] Reds games are always special, and they're always tough. That's no disrespect to the Western Force or the Melbourne Rebels, either.
The rivalry goes back even further, with these two groups of players coming together in Canberra Vikings, Brisbane City, and Queensland Country games in the old National Rugby Championship (NRC).
A lot of them were even teammates in the famed Junior Wallabies side of 2019, losing to France 24-23 in the final of the Under-20s World Championship tournament.
Now, both playing groups form a large part of Dave Rennie's Wallabies squad, and it's only making the rivalry stronger.
"Dave wants the players playing as close to Test match intensity as possible," McKellar said, with his Wallabies assistant coach cap on.
"And when you've got two quality teams that certainly respect each other, and they're going to go hard at each other, there's the possibility of it being as close to Test match footy as possible.
"All the coaches want that. Obviously, I spend half the year as a Wallabies coach, and at this time of year, my focus is 100 per cent on the Brumbies, but I'm certainly keeping an eye on how players perform for their franchises elsewhere as well."
McKellar admits the 2021 loss in the Super Rugby final, when Reds captain James O'Connor scored a match-winning try in the 85th minute, does still sting.
"Oh, it was certainly a painful experience, you know, when you lead [in] not just the grand final but all three games, and to be beaten basically on the bell on three occasions," he said.
"The last encounter in particular was, yeah... you probably never get over it, it's a grand final result.
"But it's certainly not the motivator or the driver for Friday night.
"It's a new competition and a new year; players have left and have been added to both groups.
"The rivalry and respect is still there, but I certainly won't be firing the boys up with talk of the 2021 grand final; that's fish and chip paper now. It's all about 2022 and what we can achieve with this particular group. It's round 5. It's not a grand final, but it's a big encounter, there's no doubt."
The Brumbies will be hoping home-ground advantage gives them the edge over the Reds for the first game of 2022, with both sides coming into this match unbeaten over the first month of Super Rugby Pacific.
It's easy to say the Brumbies and Reds collectively have set the benchmark once again for the Australian teams this year.
What's harder is trying to work out who will be standing alone next week.
Super Rugby Pacific — Round 5 (AEDT)
FRIDAY
Highlanders v Moana Pasifika, Dunedin (Postponed)
Brumbies v Queensland Reds, Canberra 7:45pm
SATURDAY
Fijian Drua v Western Force, Sydney 2:35pm
Crusaders v Blues, Christchurch (Postponed)
(Rescheduled Rd.2) Moana Pasifika v Chiefs, Auckland 5:05pm
NSW Waratahs v Melbourne Rebels, Sydney 7:45pm
SUNDAY
Hurricanes v Chiefs, Wellington (Postponed)
