The Brumbies went across the ditch to Wellington to take on the Hurricanes after a tough week for the Brumbies after the news that David Pocock would miss the rest of the year but they put their faith in Jarrad Butler to fill his shoes.
It didn’t seem a problem though as they came away with a 29-21 win scoring four tries and claiming a bonus point in the process. Some great attacking play and some tough defence laid the platform for their fourth consecutive win over the Hurricanes.
The Match
The Hurricanes got on the board first with a penalty goal to Beauden Barrett in the eighth minute after Ben Mowen was penalised at the ruck.
The Brumbies survived a scare in the 15th minute when Robbie Coleman was involved in a tangle with Barrett on his own line in cleaning up a loose ball. The TMO had a look at the incident but the contact was ruled accidental and from the resulting scrum the Hurricanes dropped the ball despite great attacking position.
The Brumbies had a great chance to hit back after a great run from Pat McCabe, who started in place of Andrew Smith, off a neat pass from Matt Toomua playing in his 50th match but the Hurricanes scrambled well to hold out that raid.
The visitors then had their share of possession in the Hurricanes 22 with one rolling maul held up over the line but the resulting scrum sloppy and came to nothing. They did finally get on the board after 30 minutes after a Nic White penalty.
The Hurricanes hit back almost immediately with a try to scrum half TJ Perenara, although the replays showed that Cory Jane’s toe brushed the line in the build up. Barrett’s conversion from out wide made the gap 10.
Just before the break the Brumbies hit back with two tries that swung the momentum in their favour. Initially the Hurricanes ball handling let them down and resulted in a penalty for the Brumbies. From there they declined the easy penalty goal and from a 5m scrum, Jesse Mogg strolled over untouched to get them back in the game.
From the restart, the Brumbies went 80m with some great patience in the build up. The forwards led the way with a series of pick and drives and then the backs finally got in on the act and with the overlap, winger Robbie Coleman dived over in the left corner to give the Brumbies a 15-13 lead right on half time.
The second half opened up with the Brumbies attacking the Hurricanes line after another great run from Pat McCabe. Scott Fardy went close but was held up after some great defensive work from Blade Thompson.
From another 5m attacking scrum the Brumbies scored their third try of the night from Tevita Kuridrani who backed his way over the line. White’s conversion gave the Brumbies a 22-13 lead.
The Hurricanes made a series of substitutions as the affects of travelling back from South Africa started to show and it appeared to give them a bit of spark.
The home side were able to reduce the gap to six following Barrett’s third penalty of the night as they finally got some of the ball of which they had been starved of.
With 15 minutes remaining the Brumbies had a chance to gain the bonus point for the their fourth try but captain Ben Mowen knocked on stretching out for the line.
And with less than ten minutes remaining, the Brumbies put the game to bed with their fourth try of the night. Some great play down the left wing from McCabe and Scott Fardy with another flick pass try assist saw replacement Lachie McCaffrey score his first try for the Brumbies.
The Hurricanes saved their best for last and scored their second of the night to Blade Thompson in the right corner but it wasn’t enough as the Brumbies came away with the well deserved eight point win.
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The Game Changer
The 10 minute period just before half time saw the Brumbies score two tries to give them the lead.
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The G&GR MOTM
Pat McCabe – Stretchered off last week, making great runs this week.
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Wallaby Watch
Pat McCabe made two great runs and left Conrad Smith in his wake on one run.
Scott Fardy showing his skills with another flick pass try assist.
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The Details
Crowd: 8096
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]BRUMBIES 29
Tries: Mogg, Coleman, Kuridrani, McCaffrey
Conversions: White 3
Penalties: White
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[one_half last=”yes”]HURRICANES 21
Tries: Perenara, Thompson
Conversions: Barrett
Penalties: Barrett 3
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Cards & Citings
Nil
