Western Force coach Simon Cron says they cannot afford to be daunted by the Brumbies’ cavalry of Wallabies as they prepare to face Super Rugby Pacific’s Australian benchmark.

And the Force will have to overcome some unwanted history against the Brumbies at GIO Stadium, a notoriously unhappy hunting ground for the club in recent years.

The Brumbies have won 16 of their past 17 matches against the Force, and have beaten them 11 times on the trot at their Canberra stronghold.

2011 was the last time the Force tasted victory over the Brumbies in Canberra, and their task has been made tougher with the hosts announcing the return of several Wallabies.

James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Len Ikitau and Tom Wright have all been added to the Brumbies starting 15 after being rested for their round one win in Fiji over the Drua.

But Cron said the Brumbies’ greatest strength was their consistency and he was not overawed by the big names coming back into their side.

“We all know the Brumbies have historically been one of the best teams in Super Rugby and naturally in Australia. They bring with them a tight five forward pack, explosively fast backs and some real experience,” he said.

“It doesn’t change; they’re always there. Every year, they’re there, so it’s what we do about it, how we play and how our boys step up.

Wallabies fly-half Noah Lolesio will miss the match through concussion, but Cron said he did not think it would change their opponent’s approach.

“Across the park, they’ve got talent. (Ollie) Sapsford can run it hard, Corey Toole, the boys on the wing Wrighty (Tom Wright), amazing players,” he said.

“I don’t think it changes their game too much. Noah is obviously a real talent, but everything in behind them is too.”

The Force lost two tight games to the Brumbies last year and were blown out in the two sides’ pre-season trial game a few weeks ago, and Cron said they had not focused too much on the most recent loss.

“We take little bits from all matches we’ve played against them and little parts around how they play and what they do and what we need to do to counter that,” he said.

After their high-scoring and dramatic 45-44 win over Moana Pasifika last week, Cron said they needed to build on it, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

“Every rugby player when they’ve had a career experience in the last six minutes like those, they’ll take a lot into the future, whether that’s next week or next year, they’ll learn how to handle those moments,” he said.

“When teams talk about process over outcome, that’s our process stage of the game, where the boys did their role.

“But we’ve got to look at the things that happened prior to that and how we can be better.

“The big thing for us is performance. On the weekend against Moana, our performance was mixed and it was the second big hit-out for us.

“Now it’s about putting a performance on the park that goes for 83, 84 minutes, that’s consistently good.”