MELBOURNE, May 8 (Reuters) - Veteran Australia prop Allan Alaalatoa says the chance to impress Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt will give his ACT Brumbies teammates fuel as they look to return to form in a must-win match at home against the Western Force on Saturday.
After three straight defeats in Super Rugby Pacific, the Brumbies have dropped to sixth, the last playoff position, with four rounds left in the regular season.
Schmidt said this week he will be closely watching the Australian derbies in the final rounds as he builds a squad for the inaugural Nations Championship tests against Ireland, France and Italy in July.
Having missed two matches while going through concussion protocols, Alaalatoa is eager to remind Schmidt of his quality with a performance against the Force before the Brumbies go into a bye week.
"It's definitely a thought that's crossing your mind when you're playing other Australian teams," he told reporters on Friday.
"It adds a bit more to the game, a bit more meaning to the game. I think that's great.
"For us, in order to be in those Wallabies conversations, you've got to be preparing well to then go out there and play well."
The Brumbies have dominated Perth-based Force in recent years but suffered a shock loss to Simon Cron's team in a 45-42 thriller in their most recent meeting at Canberra Stadium last season.
They will be wary of opponents who have shrugged off a woeful start and won three of their last four, including last weekend's away win over the New South Wales Waratahs.
Having long been Australia's most dominant team in the competition, the Brumbies would normally be on the verge of a sewing up their spot in the playoffs but may need to battle to the last round.
Alaalatoa said they were not panicking, though, and that their game was sound despite the run of losses.
"We've seen that a lot of areas of focus were in our control, around handling handling errors or accuracy and skill," he said.
"Those things are things you can address in our preparation. The only thing now is doing that under pressure."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Rutherford)
