A hat-trick of tries from Joe Tomane has seen the Brumbies put the Stormers away with a magnificent 39-19 win in Cape Town. The Brumbies will now head to Wellington to take on the table topping Hurricanes but the win was somewhat with a red card to Henry Speight and will face the judiciary with no chances of playing anytime soon.
The Match
The home side suffered a huge blow before the kick off when Schalk Burger was ruled out after suffering a groin injury in training late in the week to join Duane Vermeulen on the sideline.
After a frantic opening period from both sides, the Brumbies were on the board within five minutes with Joe Tomane running onto a Nic White grubber kick to score in the left corner.
But that good start was nullified with Matt Toomua, who was a late inclusion into the starting side, having to go off for a concussion check after slipping into a tackle on the greasy surface in the lead up but would later return to the field.
The conditions were playing havoc with the hookers for both sides with good chances going begging with overthrown lineouts not helping either side get into a rhythm.
The home side hit back with a penalty goal to Demetri Catrakilis after sustained pressure in the Stormers 22 but the Brumbies extended their lead within minutes with Tomane scoring his second of the game following a turnover after a good tackle from Henry Speight and good work from the forwards out wide with Blake Enever throwing the last pass. Unfortunately, Lealiifano couldn’t land the extras to leave the score at 10-3.
The Stormers were doing their best to hit back and a good run from de Allended had them in good attacking position and earned a penalty and they elected to keep the pressure on with a lineout but the Brumbies defence held together and Scott Fardy was rewarded with a relieving penalty right on the Brumbies line.
And then on the 25 minute mark Joe Tomane had his hat trick after making something out of what looked like nothing, putting a giant fend on Stormers winger Dillyn Leyds and ran untouched to the line for his fourth try at Newlands in 2015 after scoring in the game earlier this year. Lealiifano converted to make it 17-3.
The Stormers were content to kick for field position and pressure the Brumbies with mixed results but they would hit back with another penalty goal to Catrakilis to make it 17-6.
With half time looming, the Brumbies had scored their fourth try of the game after they turned over the ball in their own half Fardy hacked the ball down field and from the resulting lineout the Stormers overthrew and a few phases later Scott Sio ploughed over. Lealiifano converted to make it 24-6 at the break.
The Stormers needed to score first in the second half and they did after fullback Cheslin Kolbe intercepted a poor pass in contact from Matt Toomua and he ran 60 metres to the line to give the Stormers a lifeline.
That got the crowd something to cheer about and gave the Stormers a lift as they started to hit the rucks a bit harder and soon after Catrakilis had another penalty goal to make it game on at 24-16.
Lealiifano steadied the Brumbies with a penalty goal of his own shortly after to restore the gap to 11 points but the Stormers had all the momentum.
The Stormers were their own worst enemy on their own throws at the lineout, with at least six overthrows ruining any chance they had of attacking.
However, their scrum was starting to get on top with some powerful scrummaging forcing the Brumbies to be penalised and Catrakilis took another three points with 20 minutes to go.
But the Brumbies hit back with another try off another turnover in the Stormers half and after patient build up, Ita Vaea was awarded the try via the TMO to quiet down the home crowd and Lealiifano’s conversion made it 34-19.
With 15 minutes to go, Joe Tomane thought he had bagged his fourth try of the game but the TMO ruled there was a high tackle from Jesse Mogg as he tackled the Stormers player right on the line.
With less than ten minutes to go, the Brumbies were reduced to 14 men after Henry Speight was shown a straight red card for cleaning out Juan de Jongh on his head.
He was to be joined on the sideline by Scott Fardy just a minute later, after he received a yellow card for infringing with the Stormers on attack in the 22.
But the 7 man Brumbies scrum stood up tall and secured a tight head on their own line to stop any chance the Stormers had of a miraculous comeback.
Being down to 13 men didn’t matter as Jesse Mogg completed the win with the sixth try of the game for the Brumbies to send them on to Wellington with a dominant 39-19 win.
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The Game Changer
Ita Vaea‘s try in the second half sucked the momentum out of the Stormers and gave the Brumbies enough of a buffer.
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[one_third last=”no”]
The G&GR MOTM
Joe Tomane Bagged a hat-trick in this game and will give Wallabies coach Michael Cheika something to think about on the left wing.
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Wallaby Watch
Henry Speight will probably be having a long rest courtesy of the SANZAR judiciary.
David Pocock and Scott Fardy were immense around the ruck, securing a number of turnovers.
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The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]STORMERS 19
Tries: Kolbe
Conversions: Catrakilis
Penalties: Catrakilis 4
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[one_half last=”yes”]BRUMBIES 39
Tries: Tomane 3, Sio, Vaea, Mogg
Conversions: Lealiifano 3
Penalties: Lealiifano
[/one_half]
Cards
73 Mins – Speight (Brumbies) Red card
74 Mins – Fardy (Brumbies ) Yellow card
Crowd: 28,987
