The Brumbies 2013 season has ended by taking out the inaugural World Club Sevens title with a dramatic 17-14 win over Auckland in the final at Twickenham overnight.
Whilst not the silverware they were after in 2013, the victory is reward for the hard work they’ve put in throughout the season. Lead by coach Stephen Larkham, the Brumbies had to work hard for the title on the second day of competition after their opening game against Moscow Saracens nearly ended in an upset and needed extra time with only six men to get the win.
Winger Henry Speight was named player of the tournament and once eligible for the Wallabies later this year should be in contention for a spot on the Spring tour to Europe.
The inclusion of local club players Matt Hawke and Rodney Iona proved vital as they played their parts well and it would be no surprise to see them as contracted Brumbies players in the future. Iona’s kicking game was a highlight throughout the tournament.
A full replay of the final day of competition will be shown on Fox Sports on Monday afternoon from 4:25pm with the final to be shown approx. 7pm.
Quarter Final v. Saracens Moscow
Day two of competition saw the Brumbies up against Saracens Moscow and it looked like it would be an easy stroll as captain Robbie Coleman scored the opening try within 25 seconds after Etienne Oosthuizen jumped highest to regather the kickoff.
Moscow were allowed back into the game on the back of the Brumbies giving away penalties and the weight of possession was too much for the Brumbies to hold out as Moscow scored their first try after five minutes.
The Brumbies task got harder after as they were reduced to six men after Jordan Smiler was given a red card for a lifting tackle that would later earn him a six week ban.
Moscow took the lead before half time with a try as it looked like the Brumbies would struggle under the extra workload.
The Brumbies came out firing in the second half and Henry Speight got them back in the game with a try on the right wing that was followed by another to Rodney Iona shortly after.
As time wound down, Moscow launched one last attack and got their third try of the game to level the scores with a shot at causing a huge upset. Unfortunately, the conversion missed and the game went into extra time.
In the extra period Moscow looked the more likely to score but they knocked the ball on and then gave away a penalty from the ensuing scrum that gave the Brumbies the field position they needed. After some great interplay down the left wing, Colby Fainga’a scored the match winner and the relief was obvious on the players faces.
Brumbies 22 – Coleman, Speight, Iona, C Fainga’a tries; Iona Con def. Saracens Moscow 17
Semi Final v. Buenos Aires
The Brumbies came up against the Argentinians in the semi final who earlier defeated New York in their quarter final.
The Brumbies scored first to Matt Hawke after two early penalties had Buenos Aires on the back foot with the skills of Robbie Coleman evident in the lead up.
Buenos Aires had their best chance of the first half to respond but a turnover in the Brumbies half was punished with Stephan van der Walt scoring the second try of the match, although Buenos Aires were a man down with injury.
van der Walt scored his second of the match early in the second half after running 75m untouched to score under the posts.
The Brumbies then wrapped up the match with Henry Speight scoring the fourth of match after Buenos Aires were penalised for not clearing a ruck.
To their credit, Buenos Aires played out the game and scored a consolation try just before full time but had been outplayed for the majority of the match.
Brumbies 26 – Hawke, van der Walt 2, Speight tries; Iona 3 cons def. Buenos Aires 7
Final v. Auckland
The Brumbies looked to get payback after losing to Auckland in the pool stages and got off to the perfect start scoring after just 20 seconds to flying winger Tom Cox.
Player of the tournament Henry Speight added to the lead after five minutes with his first of the match after putting on some of his usual footwork.
Auckland took their time to get into the match but did so in style with two quick tries in the second half and it looked like they would take the prize but there was more to come.
With just seconds remaining Henry Speight collected the ball on the right wing and out sprinted the covering defence to give the Brumbies the title with a 17-14 victory.
Brumbies 17 – Cox, Speight 2 tries; Iona con def. Auckland 14
Photos courtesy Cam McIntosh – London based Brumbies fan
Cover photo from Colby Faingaa
