Brumbies win Super Rugby Australia title

CANBERRA, Australia, Sept 19, (AP): Tries by fullback Tom Banks, winger Andy Muirhead and hooker Folau Faingaa and a 13-point goal-kicking performance from flyhalf Noah Lolesio led the ACT Brumbies to a 28-23 win over the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby Australia final on Saturday.

The Brumbies had been Australian Super Rugby conference champions in three of the past four years before dominating the 10-round domestic series in 2020.

Queensland hoped to assert their superiority at the scrum, and they did early as the two sides traded penalties in the opening 15 minutes.

But it was the Brumbies who scored the first try of the night and they led by two points at halftime before a back-and-forth second period.

“It was a huge effort from the boys,” said ACT skipper Allan Alaalatoa.

“I’ve got to give credit to the Reds, they were always going to come back in the second half and make it hard for us.”

The final concluded the revamped five-team Super Rugby Australia tournament formed when coronavirus travel restrictions forced the regular Super Rugby event to be curtailed.

New Zealand also held its own tournament while teams from South Africa and Argentina were idle during the shutdown.