By Brumby Jack
The NSW Waratahs have beaten the ACT Brumbies 15- 7 at Viking Park Erindale in front of a healthy crowd, including interested onlookers Robbie Deans and John Mitchell.
The game was riddled with handling mistakes and the shrill (or thrill) of Steve Walsh’s whistle at every given opportunity.
The first 5 minutes was full of mindless midfield bombs from both teams, in particular Barnes for the Waratahs.
After about 7 mins a break down the right wing by the Brumbies led to a penalty to the Brumbies right in front. Surprisingly, a shot at goal was declined and the Brumbies took the scrum which resulted in a penalty to NSW. The Waratahs scrum was rather dominant on the night and pushed back the Brumbies on numerous occasions to the point where Steve Walsh was giving free kicks for delayed feeds by Valentine later in the game.
The first Waratahs adventure into the Brumbies 22 also led to a penalty and a kick for touch instead of taking a shot at goal. From the line out Phil Waugh got off the bottom of the pile and claimed a 5 pointer which was woefully unconverted by Berrick Barnes.
Not long after, Franky Fainifo made a midfield break for the Brumbies down the left side and left ‘returning Wallaby’ Tom Carter in all sorts of trouble and clutching at thin air as Ashley-Cooper went over in the corner, with Mortlock converting for a 7-5 lead.
At about the 20 minute mark, a Brumbies scrum just on their side of halfway was picked up by Hoiles at the back (only because it was going backwards at such a rate) and he went on run down the field which eventually led to a penalty right in front.
Once again, the Brumbies declined the shot at goal and went for a scrum which was poorly executed and was knocked on. This was a feature of the Brumbies play all night, with numerous dropped ball in attacking positions.
The next 10 or so minutes was pretty much back and forth play with no real excitement to speak of.
After 28 mins, Barnes had a shot at a penalty goal, which was successful to make it 8-7.
Right at the end of the half NSW had atttacking scrums in the 22 but the Brumbies somehow held on and went into the sheds at 8-7.
The 2nd half was a little more exciting with long attacking moves made by both teams, but neither could finish off with a try. One particular move by the Brumbies was halted by Sosene Anesi ripping the ball out of a Brumbies players grasp within sight of the try line.
The middle part of the half was once again featuring midfield bombs by both teams which wasn’t really achieving anything. But once it stopped, the Waratahs led a play down the left which Josh Holmes finished off with a nice try. This was converted by Halangahu for the score of 15-7 which would end up being the final score because once the rain came down, ball handling went out the door and scrums and kicks were on the menu for the rest of the half.
NSW Warathas 15 (Waugh, Holmes tries, Halangahu con, Barnes pen
Brumbies 7 (Ashley-Cooper try, Mortlock con)
