Brumby Jack
Steve Williams (59)
The Brumbies have had gone down in their last trial before the Super Rugby season starts with a 38-26 loss to the
Chiefs on the Sunshine Coast.
The Brumbies ran out what would be close to their opening match fifteen but it was the Chiefs who looked hot
in the first half under their new coach Colin Cooper before the Brumbies gained some respectability in the second half to make a game of it in a game that could be best described as a game of two halves.
A tough opening ten minutes for both sides with a few handling errors halting any momentum after an initial
backline move from the Brumbies with their first chance with the ball.
A fortuitous bounce from a Lealiifano kick saw Henry Speight pick the ball up and it might have been easier to score
as he attempted to find support. The resulting five metre scrum saw the Brumbies lose possession but made up for it
immediately as Joe Powell swooped on a loose Chiefs ball at the back of the scrum to score the opening try.
The Chiefs came back into the game with some nice attacking play of their own with winger Solomon Alaimalo getting
involved with pace down the left wing. They went close to again but it was thirst time lucky as
Alaimalo broke a tackle to send Brad Weber to the line.
That same combo of Alaimalo and Weber combined again just before the 20 minute mark with another raid down the
left wing and Weber backed up nicely to score his second of the night to make it 14-7.
The Brumbies missed tackles in open field was hurting them badly as the Chiefs counter attack made easy metres and again their support play was brilliant as fullback Shaun Stevenson got involved and Mitchell Brown had the Chiefs third try before the 20 minute mark.
Brad Weber was having a score fest on Valentine's Day and bagged his hat trick before 25 minutes on the clock.
A scrum five metres out was picked up by Taleni Seu and had a simple offload to Weber and he strolled over to make it 26-7.
Both sides made a heap of changes for the second half as you'd expect in a trial but it was more of the same for the Chiefs
as they made the small metres close to the line and Liam Messam got over the line as the Brumbies defence finally cracked.
The Brumbies backline speed looked better with Matt Lucas on the field and the quick ball for the backs allowed Andy
Muirhead to get one back to make it 33-14.
Isi Naisirani continued his good game and picked up a loose Chiefs ball to run 70 metres untouched to the line to reduce
the margin
There was still life in the Brumbies as time wond down and Kyle Godwin evaded the chasing Charlie Ngatai after weaving
his way through the defence before the Chiefs put the game to bed with a try to Johnny Fa’auli in the corner after collecting a pin point cross field kick from Marty McKenzie
There were some positives despite the loss for the Brumbies with Isi Naisirani and Kyle Godwin looking good in parts and Matt Lucas added some spark to the backline when he came on to give Dan McKellar something to think about before they head to Japan to take on the Sunwolves in their first game of the season next weekend.
Chiefs 38 - Weber 3, Brown, Messam, Fa’auli tries, D McKenzie 3, M McKenzie cons
Brumbies 26 - Powell, Muirhead, Naisirani, Godwin tries, Lealiifano, Hawera 2 cons
Chiefs on the Sunshine Coast.
The Brumbies ran out what would be close to their opening match fifteen but it was the Chiefs who looked hot
in the first half under their new coach Colin Cooper before the Brumbies gained some respectability in the second half to make a game of it in a game that could be best described as a game of two halves.
A tough opening ten minutes for both sides with a few handling errors halting any momentum after an initial
backline move from the Brumbies with their first chance with the ball.
A fortuitous bounce from a Lealiifano kick saw Henry Speight pick the ball up and it might have been easier to score
as he attempted to find support. The resulting five metre scrum saw the Brumbies lose possession but made up for it
immediately as Joe Powell swooped on a loose Chiefs ball at the back of the scrum to score the opening try.
The Chiefs came back into the game with some nice attacking play of their own with winger Solomon Alaimalo getting
involved with pace down the left wing. They went close to again but it was thirst time lucky as
Alaimalo broke a tackle to send Brad Weber to the line.
That same combo of Alaimalo and Weber combined again just before the 20 minute mark with another raid down the
left wing and Weber backed up nicely to score his second of the night to make it 14-7.
The Brumbies missed tackles in open field was hurting them badly as the Chiefs counter attack made easy metres and again their support play was brilliant as fullback Shaun Stevenson got involved and Mitchell Brown had the Chiefs third try before the 20 minute mark.
Brad Weber was having a score fest on Valentine's Day and bagged his hat trick before 25 minutes on the clock.
A scrum five metres out was picked up by Taleni Seu and had a simple offload to Weber and he strolled over to make it 26-7.
Both sides made a heap of changes for the second half as you'd expect in a trial but it was more of the same for the Chiefs
as they made the small metres close to the line and Liam Messam got over the line as the Brumbies defence finally cracked.
The Brumbies backline speed looked better with Matt Lucas on the field and the quick ball for the backs allowed Andy
Muirhead to get one back to make it 33-14.
Isi Naisirani continued his good game and picked up a loose Chiefs ball to run 70 metres untouched to the line to reduce
the margin
There was still life in the Brumbies as time wond down and Kyle Godwin evaded the chasing Charlie Ngatai after weaving
his way through the defence before the Chiefs put the game to bed with a try to Johnny Fa’auli in the corner after collecting a pin point cross field kick from Marty McKenzie
There were some positives despite the loss for the Brumbies with Isi Naisirani and Kyle Godwin looking good in parts and Matt Lucas added some spark to the backline when he came on to give Dan McKellar something to think about before they head to Japan to take on the Sunwolves in their first game of the season next weekend.
Chiefs 38 - Weber 3, Brown, Messam, Fa’auli tries, D McKenzie 3, M McKenzie cons
Brumbies 26 - Powell, Muirhead, Naisirani, Godwin tries, Lealiifano, Hawera 2 cons
