Brumbies pull one back

by Rajitha Ratwatte

The second game on Saturday was played in Canberra with the ACT Brumbies at home to the Wellington Hurricanes in front of a loud and patriotic crowd. The Hurricanes were at full strength and the Brumbies had that nuggetty Aussie battler of a scrum-half Nick White coming on off the bench. Paul Williams was the referee.

Two minutes into the game a kickable penalty was awarded to the ‘Canes was disregarded for touch and the Brumbies reciprocated in the ninth minute choosing the touch option off a possible three pointer well inside Hurricane’s territory.

The Brumbies decision paid off when Ryan Lonergan (one of two brothers playing for the Brumbies) in the number nine jersey scored under the posts allowing Lolesio to convert.

The 17th minute saw Dan Coles, skipper and hooker of the Hurricanes do his thing off the back of a maul, peel off and run ten meters to score the equaliser for the Wellingtonians 7 – 7.

The rugby was not scrappy and the Brumbies defence seemed to have done their homework, they were very organized. The refereeing was pedantic but fair as both sides were given no quarter by Paul Williams who was also very consistent throughout the match.

Twenty three minutes into the game Du Plessis Kirifi playing at number seven for the ‘Canes was pinged for a high tackle and although the crowd and commentators tried their best to get a red card the referee yellow-carded him.

The Hurricanes scrum was dominating winning two scrum penalties, but Dan Coles was not getting his line out throws on target, and this together with some penalties conceded by the ‘Canes on the attack, resulted in them losing momentum at important times. Rayasi who had a great game last week on the wing for the Hurricanes was looking overconfident, trying to run on his own and not passing when he should have. The Brumbies were unable to capitalize on their numerical advantage and the ten minutes that Kirifi spent in the bin passed without a change on the scoreboard.

Two minutes after the sides were restored to 15 each, the ‘Canes got a penalty around 40 meters out and Jordie Barret had no difficulty in adding three points to take the score to 10 – 7 with the Hurricanes going into half-time, in the lead.

Within the first minute of the second-half, a penalty from 30 meters out, which should have been bread and butter for Jordie Barret struck the left upright, thus reducing a chance for the Hurricanes to score on either side of the break.

Fifty minutes into the game Nick White came off the bench for the Brumbies and assumed the half-back position. He brought a new dimension into the game and the results were immediate with a beautifully timed pass (a la George Greegan!) to Len Niketau resulting in a try mid-left in the 51st minute. White himself stepped up to try and add the balance points but failed, 10 – 12 to the Brumbies.

The Hurricanes brought on their bench players and Dan Coles left the field. The Brumbies gained dominance in the scrums and line outs and Nick White’s presence was very evident and without Dan Coles to counter the niggling aggression, the ‘Canes were losing the initiative.

Seventy minutes into the game, a penalty that Jordie Barret may have had a go at was disregarded for touch and it seemed to pay off when the substitute prop for the Hurricanes showed great speed and scored under the posts but a very marginal knock-on (even in the view of the Aussie commentators) by Aardie Savea off the preceding ruck, quickly and vociferously pointed out by Nick White, resulted in the try being disallowed.

Two quick penalties awarded to the ‘Canes in the 72nd minute (mid-left and 35 meters out) and in the 77th minute (50 meters out and in front) were missed by the youngest of the Barret brothers, leaving the score unchanged at 10 – 12 to the ACT Brumbies. A technical victory in every sense of the word as the only possible impact on the tournament would be that the Hurricanes lose any chance, they had to feature in the final that looks like it will have the Auckland Blues and one other NZ team, depending on the final points tally from this weekend’s games.

supersubsports@gamil.com