Brumbies veteran Rod Kafer has stirred the interstate pot by claiming Reds defensive coach John Muggleton lacked the knowledge to provide them with any worthwhile assistance.

Muggleton, an assistant-coach with the Wallabies, has spent the week with the Reds showing them the way to get through the competition-best Brumbies defence in Saturday's Super 12 semi-final at Canberra.

Muggleton worked with the Brumbies last year, but fell out with the Canberra outfit after he was accused of passing on secrets to the Waratahs.

Kafer, who is regarded as the one of the most astute tacticians in Australian rugby, said it was the Reds who had something to fear.

"I don't think John Muggleton is smart enough to realise any weaknesses in our side, so I don't think it'll help him at all," Kafer said. "I think we'll be able to exploit some of the weaknesses in them rather than them exploiting us."

And if Kafer's comments weren't enough to spice up Saturday's clash at Bruce Stadium, he, team-mate Joe Roff and former captain Brett Robinson have renewed claims that the Brumbies are the "poor cousins" come Wallaby selection time.

"It's amazing that after six years we're still trying to dispel that sort of myth and that's a bit frustrating in many respects," Roff said.

Kafer agreed.

"We've always been treated as discards by the ARU," Kafer said. "I don't think many people down here would argue with that, so for us it is important to perhaps be seen as the best provincial team in Australia and I think over the last two years we've managed to do that.

"You would like to think that everyone would be treated equal, but in this farmyard some pigs are created more equal than others."

Brumbies coach and the man tipped to be the next Wallaby mentor, Eddie Jones, was confident his own defensive staff of David Barnhill and James Black would have the side well prepared and was keen to ease any tension between the side and the ARU and Muggleton.

"There are various sort of degrees of big brother-little brother, Australian politics-provincial politics, but I don't think we need to get into those now," Jones said. "Our major concern is just to play well."