Sitting in the stands at nib Stadium, Jake White would at least have been pleased that the Brumbies were showing some vital signs of life.
‘Stinger’ Rea’s effort at defibrillation last week has delivered, to some degree, the desired result. A faint pulse showed up in their 13-13 draw with the Western Force.
In fact, it was probably a little bit more than that. The Brumbies were the moral winner of the match, holding out a determined Force who had both the momentum and field position to win it. That they didn’t is an indicator of just where their deficiencies lie.
The Force win plenty of possession through a hardworking and industrious pack, but they’re lacking in game-breakers, Rabbit O’Connor and David Smith notwithstanding.
Unfortunately, mistakes and turnovers abounded last night but in the entertainment stakes (yes, rugby is a form of entertainment, whether you like it or not) the punters probably got their money’s worth. Both sides were intent on playing an expansive game, and that was delivered right from the outset.
The Brumbies certainly deserve some credit for leading from the start and holding out the Force in the second half when momentum had turned against them.
There were only two tries scored in this match, the first from a Pat McCabe break at the four-minute mark that led to Henry Speight dotting down, and the second by Sam Wykes (13 min) after some pressure phases in the Brumbies’ red zone.
Both teams had opportunities at the end of the match to snatch a win, with Gits attempting a hasty drop goal and Rabbit a 52-metre penalty that fell short. Earlier, Rabbit was denied a try by the TMO after it appeared he knocked-on as he crossed the tryline.
The Force looked the more dominant side, with an especially strong set piece, but their failure to convert field position into points and the Brums’ rock-hard defence suggests to me that a draw was probably a reasonable result.
There were some extenuating circumstances for the Force, having lost Pek Cowan to a cheekbone fracture right at the start of the match and Willie Ripia to a calf injury directly after half-time.
You’ll all be wanting to know how Rocky Elsom got on? The answer to that is I thought he injected some steel into the Brumbies pack. He topped their run stats with 10 and was effective around the park. He stayed on for the whole 80 minutes and at the end looked bloodied and buggered. He gets an ‘A’ for effort.
It was Mark Chisholm’s 100th Super Rugby match. I was expecting more from him today; he started well with a number of touches but fell from view later. Matt Giteau was the pick of the Brumbies’ backs with Pat McCabe a close second.
For the Force, Nathan Sharpe trucked it up all day, working hard and leading by example. Sam Wykes made some telling yardage with Matt Hodgson and Bam Pocock turning over plenty of Brumbies possession.
Rabbit was forced into fly-half when Ripia went off but was well shut down by the Brumbies defensive line. He missed a number of goal attempts today, but most you would describe as ambitious.
Robbie Deans was also at the match but I don’t think he would have learnt anything new. I guess with an eye to the future he would have been impressed with Nathan Charles and Wykes, and would have been happy with Rocky’s hit-out.
The Force are third on the Australian conference table with 27 points, the Brumbies fourth with 24 and the Rebels last (19). It looks to me that both the Force and Brumbies, in all probability, have only one winnable game left.
