It won’t count for much once the Brumbies and Waratahs run out onto Allianz Stadium on Saturday night, but Stephen Larkham likely got the edge over his old assistant coach Dan McKellar in a friendly war of words on Friday.

Colleagues for years at the Brumbies after McKellar made the move to Canberra, the respected coaches were in fine form up on stage during a Randwick function on Sydney Harbour.

Putting on a show in front of Australian rugby’s most famous club side, the Brumbies, whose history is strongly attached to the Randwick side, Larkham had the audience in stitches as he twisted the knife into Sydneysiders.

“There’s always been a connection with Randwick and the Brumbies,” Larkham said, “some would say there’s more support in this room for the Brumbies than the Waratahs.”

“You (McKellar) actually rang me when he got the Waratahs job and tried to apologise for going to the enemy,” Larkham cheekily said.

“Make no mistake, this is a huge game for us.

“At the Brumbies, we call it ‘Tahs Week,’ and we make sure there’s a little more emotion involved than your average match.”

The Waratahs are a 13-match losing streak against the Brumbies. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

He then turned up the heat on his old colleague, pointing to the Waratahs’ underwhelming defeat to the Reds a week earlier which saw McKellar and fellow assistant coach Dan Palmer slamming the side for a series of “soft” moments.

“Hearing reports out of the Waratahs, I don’t know if there’s anyone here that could tell us exactly what inside the Waratahs this week but there was a fair blow-up on the Monday, in terms of their performance on the weekend,” Larkham quipped.

Larkham even took a leaf out of McKellar’s book of praise from a week earlier, where the Waratahs coach said the Reds were the “best team in the comp” ahead of their clash, by saying their Australian rivals were flying.

“We’ve only won a couple of games,” Larkham said. “You guys are flying at the moment, just a little hiccup last week.”

Larkham then delivered a savage line by saying one of the few things that would keep him up at night before Saturday evening’s clash was the Wallaby-laden Waratahs side, which had been given a helping hand this year with its recruitment by Rugby Australia.

“They’ve got a very good squad on paper, which I think you’ve (McKellar) brought together really well,” Larkham said.

“It’s no surprise that the Waratahs get looked after well by Rugby Australia.

“But there is a lot more cohesion this year, there’s some really good ball-carriers and obviously Dan’s very good at selecting good players and a good team.”

Stephen Larkham and Dan McKellar face off ahead of the Waratahs’ home clash against the Brumbies. Photo: Hugo Carr/NSW Waratahs

McKellar, whose Waratahs are underdogs following last weekend’s fall from grace and 13 consecutive defeats to the Brumbies, several of which came when the coach was in charge of the ACT franchise, was naturally mindful to play a straighter bat before the crunch clash.

“You’d like to say it’s just another game,” McKellar quipped, “but that’d be absolute rubbish.

“These are the kinds of matches you feel privileged to be involved in — whether as a player, coach, or even a physio.

“There’s plenty of history, with myself down in Canberra.

“The reality is I wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for Bernie (Larkham) and Lord (Laurie Fisher) back in 2013. Great memories and relationships and friendships down there, but for 80 minutes on Saturday night it’s a ding-dong battle and we want to get one over Stephen and the lads knock them off their perch.”

Although Larkham questioned who was on whose perch, the Brumbies threw some praise McKellar’s way saying he not only revolutionised the rolling maul but would have made it as an outstanding coach regardless of whether he came to Canberra or not.

“It’s good coming up against Dan,” Larkham said.

“You’ve been all around the world, you would have been here despite me or Laurie (Fisher).

“I think you would have found your way into a role like this whether it’s here or Brisbane or the top job here in Australia with the Wallabies.

“You are an outstanding coach, I’m not going to talk you up too much, but we’ve certainly kept in contact over the last couple of years and been sounding boards for one another.”