Brumbies suck wind out of Chiefs’ sails

THE Brumbies ended the Chiefs’ two-year domination of Super Rugby with an epic 32-30 play-off win in Canberra yesterday.

The two-time winners shot out of the blocks to lead 22-3 after 28 minutes, only for the Chiefs to storm back and level the scores at 25-25 with less than 30 minutes left.

But the Brumbies hung on with a pushover try to flanker Jarrad Butler on the hour.

All Blacks flyhalf Aaron Cruden had the chance to send the game into extra time but missed a sideline conversion after replacement Gareth Anscombe’s try three minutes from time.

The Brumbies now await the Sharks, who beat the Highlanders in Durban. It means the Canberra-based side have a mouthwatering semifinal with the Waratahs in Sydney next weekend.

“We knew it was going to have to be a full 80minute performance, you just cannot knock a side like that over easily,” Brumbies captain Ben Mowen said. “We’re very proud of that effort and you’ve got to give the Chiefs a lot of credit on what they’ve done over the past three years. It’s been an outstanding effort.”

The home side had the Chiefs firmly on the back foot with exhilarating passing rushes leading to tries to Nic White, Robbie Coleman and Jesse Mogg.

They could do little wrong as the Chiefs struggled to stay in the contest, but the Kiwis, who beat the Brumbies in last year’s final in Hamilton, began to find some rhythm and centre Bundee Aki scored a try five minutes before half time to trail 22-10.

While it was all the Brumbies in the opening half, it was the opposite in the second, with the Chiefs playing disciplined, controlled rugby and working through the phases to put the home side under pressure.

The Chiefs capitalised on Brumbies winger Henry Speight’s yellow card in the 48th minute to score two tries in his absence through scrumhalf Tawera KerrBarlow and centre Tim Nanai-Williams.

But as the Chiefs looked as though they would go on and win, the Brumbies got their big break with Butler’s try off a pushover maul close to the tryline.

“We started slowly and gave a quality side like the Brumbies a lead like that,” Chiefs skipper Cruden said. “We did well to peg it back and showed a lot of character, but in play-offs you must be clinical for 80 minutes.”—