Chiefs break Canberra bogey
The Chiefs broke their Canberra bogey in fine style by beating the Brumbies 42-28 in a try-scoring Super 14 extravaganza on Friday.
The Chiefs broke their Canberra bogey in fine style by beating the Brumbies 42-28 in a try-scoring Super 14 extravaganza on Friday.
The New Zealand tourists had not won in the Australian capital since 1999 and continued their surge towards a place in the play-offs with a crucial bonus point win away from home.
The visitors scored six tries to the Brumbies' four – all of which were converted that gave both teams a deserved bonus point for their efforts.
Clever attacking kicking continually forced the home side on the back foot, while the Chiefs were equally relentless in defence.
Chiefs' pivot Stephen Donald (20 points for the match) was instrumental in guiding his team to their third victory on the trot as coach Ian Foster's troops continued their mid-season resurgence.
The writing was on the wall once the hosts were left trailing 7-28 at half-time after the Chiefs had already secured a bonus point and were forced to play a game of catch-up against a side growing in confidence with every minute that ticked by.
The Chiefs arrived in Canberra having forgotten their away kit back in Hamilton, so the Brumbies were forced to switch to their white uniform.
The visitors may have forgotten to pack their relevant clothes, but it was the Brumbies that left their defence back at the training ground tackle bags after Sitiveni Sivivatu scored an opportunistic try as early as the seventh minute.
With nothing on, the All Black winger spotted a lack of cover on the Brumbies' line, toed the ball, gave chase and collected for the opening seven-pointer of the match.
Sivivatu was involved was again just three minutes later after taking the ball off a Chiefs' throw-in at the line-out. Showing tremendous pace off the mark, Sivivatu carved the Brumbies' would-be tacklers to shreds before passing inside to Callum Bruce for try number two.
Down 0-14, the Brumbies did tremendously well to strike back with a score of their own thanks to some brilliant work from the Smith brothers.
George Smith made the initial break after stepping inside one Chiefs' defender and outside the next before offloading to his supporting younger brother for a try under the sticks.
One must wonder how many times the two of them practiced that move in their back yard as youngsters!
Stirling Mortlock slotted his first points for 2008 with the ensuing conversion after making a long-awaited return from injury – perhaps the Brumbies' skipper would have delayed his comeback by another week had he known the outcome of this match.
The home side nearly scored again through yet another bustling burst by George Smith, but Mitchell Chapman couldn't hang on and dropped the ball over the line which was greeted by a big sigh from the Canberra Stadium crowd.
Donald was a little more lucky with his side's next try after ripping the ball from Tyrone Smith's arms in a tackle and galloping 40m for the Chiefs' third try with 25 minutes gone on the clock.
The Chiefs' fly-half bagged his brace ten minutes later following an initial break from half-back partner Brendon Leonard that was supported by a controlled effort by his team-mates to keep the ball alive.
With the Brumbies defence stretched and Sivivatu on his outside, Donald drew his man but kept on running and running some more – again showing deceptive pace – to collect his side's fourth-try bonus point.
The sin-binning of Bruce on the stroke of half-time by referee Jonathan Kaplan for a professional foul gave the Brumbies some hope in the second half, but didn't cost the visitors any points as the Chiefs' defence stayed solid.
Despite having the wealth of possession early on, tries were hard to come by for the Brumbies as the Chiefs withstood repeated attacks close to the line.
In fact, it was the Chiefs that hit back against the run of play with Viliame Waqaseduadua coming off the line, stealing the ball from Josh Holmes to dash 60m and go over untouched.
A better performance in the second half saw the Brumbies get within 14 points, with Holmes and winger Peter Playford scoring in the last 20 minutes.
But a try – arguably the best of the tournament – with eight minutes left against the run of play to Jamie Nutbrown nullified any chance of a comeback and consigned the Brumbies to one of their heaviest home defeats.
Holmes crossed over from close range on the siren to earn his side a consolation try and an all-important bonus point for their efforts.
While the Chiefs temporarily make their way to fourth place on the table, the Brumbies remained ninth after eight rounds, probably needing to win at least five of their last six games to make the semi-finals for the first time under coach Laurie Fisher.
Man of the match: For the Brumbies, George Smith was simply superb in a losing team and took the fight to his opposition by mixing strong running with solid defence. The Chiefs can thank Sitiveni Sivivatu for his contribution with ball in hand, but Stephen Donald takes the cake for his two quick-fire tries and five conversions that helped take the side out to an unassailable lead. His pace was also truly mind-boggling – even Sivivatu was struggling to keep up!
Moment of the match: Without a doubt, Jamie Nutbrown's try. With the Brumbies on attack, the Chiefs managed to turn the ball around and begin a counter from their own try-line with Lelia Masaga the instigator on this occasion. The winger linked up with partner in crime Sivivatu who turned on the gas that swiftly followed by the ball moving through four pairs of hands before landing up with Nutbrown diving over under the posts from a 95m break-out. In a nutshell: simply brilliant.
Villain of the match: Yellow cards to Callum Bruce and Faifili Levave were deserved, but certainly nothing for anyone to go crying home about.
The scorers:
For Brumbies:
Tries: T Smith, Holmes 2, Playford
Cons: Mortlock 4
For Chiefs:
Tries: Sivivatu, Bruce, Donald 2, Waqaseduadua, Nutbrown
Cons: Donald 5, Bruce
Yellow card: Bruce, killing the ball (Chiefs, 39); Levave, repeated offence (Chiefs, 79 min).
The teams:
Brumbies: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Playford, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Patrick Phibbs, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 George Smith, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Salesi Maafu, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Julian Salvi, 20 Joshua Holmes, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Sanualio Afeaki.
Chiefs: 15 Mils Muliaina (c), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Kevin O'Neill, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tom Willis, 1 Simms Davison.