Brumbies prevail over Waratahs in bruising derby
>> CANBERRA: The ACT Brumbies remain unbeaten in the Australian conference with a bruising 32-15 Super Rugby derby win over the New South Wales Waratahs in Canberra yesterday.
The Brumbies pulled clear in the second half after an 8-all stalemate at halftime on the back of their dominant scrum and at the breakdown.
The home side scored four tries to two with a penalty try among them as the Waratahs’ pack were back-pedalled over their try-line by the surging Brumbies’ pack.
But it was a much-improved performance by the Waratahs on their 30-10 win over the Queensland Reds the previous week in Sydney and they more than matched the Brumbies in the opening half despite having two players sin-binned and conceding a flurry of penalties.
“We had a lot of chances in the first half and we couldn’t get over the line so we said at half-time we just needed to play our own game and style,” Brumbies skipper Stephen Moore said.
“We did that and we finished well at the end so we’re very happy to get a win against a quality side.”
The Waratahs rattled the Brumbies in the opening exchanges and despite losing forwards Will Skelton and Dean Mumm to the sin bin, they held the Brumbies to 8-8 at half-time.
Leali’ifano scored a ninth-minute try stepping through three tackles to add to his penalty goal, while Wallabies’ fullback Israel Folau beat Joe Tomane to score out wide midway through the half.
Kurtley Beale levelled the scores with a penalty, but livewire Argentina Pumas scrum-half Tom Cubelli lost the ball over the try-line in Dave Dennis’s tackle.
The Brumbies stepped up the pressure after the resumption with winger Joe Tomane palming off Beale to score, only for scrum-half Nick Phipps to back up a Folau break and score a quick reply for the Waratahs.
The Brumbies earned a penalty try off their dominant scrum in the 69th minute and sealed victory when replacement Nigel Ah Wong finished off smart retrieval work by Tomane to post the home side’s fourth try.
CRUSADERS BEAT BLUES
The Canterbury Crusaders displayed their Super Rugby championship credentials with a 28-13 win over the Auckland Blues in Christchurch yesterday.
The seven-time champions Crusaders hit back after being defeated in the opening round.
The Crusaders, coming off an opening-round loss to the Waikato Chiefs, dominated the early exchanges as the sides exchanges penalties.