The Brumbies looked to get their season back on track after a disastrous tour of South Africa whilst the Rebels looked to hit back after a loss to the Waratahs last week.
The Match
The Brumbies have beaten the Rebels 37-10 in Canberra, scoring six tries to one in the process. The Brumbies had secured the four try bonus point after 30 minutes in a display that showed the disappointment of their South African tour looked well and truly behind them.
It only took three minutes for the Brumbies to get on the board with flyhalf Matt Toomua scoring the right corner after all the ball in the opening minutes. It looked to get worse for the visitors after they kicked out on the full from the restart but from the resulting scrum, the Rebels flexed their muscle and were awarded a penalty that Jason Woodward converted from 50 metres out to make it 5-3.
The Brumbies selected both Clyde Rathbone and Pat McCabe in the backline and those two combined with McCabe collecting a pass from Rathbone right on the tryline to score the try and justify his selection in the starting side.
Only 16 minutes had passed and the Brumbies had collected their third try of the night with Matt Toomua scoring his second of the night after a sniping run from Nic White down the right wing. Lealiifano was having an off night with the kicking boots and left the score at 17-3.
The Rebels finally got into the game and starting to attack the Brumbies but their good work was undone from handling errors in a good attacking position.
With half an hour of the game gone, the Brumbies had their four try bonus point in the bag. Prop Scott Sio was the recipient after the forwards had been attacking the line for multiple phases to make it 22-3.
With the half winding down, the Brumbies added a penalty goal from in front to extend their lead to 25-3.
And just before half time, the Rebels had their best chance of the game to hit back but despite numerous phases right on the Brumbies line, they couldn’t close the gap.
It only took three minutes of the second half for the Brumbies to add to their score with Nic White again featuring with another big run in the lead up. Sam Carter came up with the five pointer this time to give Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie something to think about as he watched from the stands with the first Test side for France to be named on Tuesday.
The home side rung the changes which gave the Rebels a chance to hit back as they started to get their hands on the ball and build some phases.
The visitors camped themselves on the Brumbies five metre line with a series of scrums that they dominated. Their dominance resulted in Ben Alexander, who had only just come on the field, being sent to the sin bin after Steve Walsh had earlier warned the Brumbies for scrum infringements.
That field position proved too much for the Brumbies with Rebels captain Scott Higginbotham given the OK from the TMO as he dived over from close range.
They had a chance to close the gap further but Jack Debreczeni was denied by a Jesse Mogg covering tackle in the left corner and lost the ball forward in reaching for the line.
With time almost up, Brumbies replacement lock Leon Power went over in the right hand corner (yes, it did happen with no TV coverage at this point) to make the final score 37-10.
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The Game Changer
The opening 15 minutes had the Rebels out of the game as the Brumbies had already racked up three tries.
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The G&GR MOTM
Plenty of good play on show from the home side, with Nic White and Matt Toomua dominant in the win.
Matt Toomua gets the nod with 2 tries on the night.
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Wallaby Watch
Ewen McKenzie was on hand to see the final audition before the Test window and would have been impressed by some displays but less so from others with the team announcement around the corner.
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The Details
Crowd: 11,071
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]BRUMBIES 37
Tries: Toomua 2, McCabe, Sio, Carter, Power
Conversions: Lealiifano 2
Penalties: Lealiifano
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[one_half last=”yes”]REBELS 10
Tries: Higginbotham
Conversions: Woodward
Penalties: Woodward
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Cards & Citings
67 min – Ben Alexander (Brumbies) – Yellow
