The Brumbies disappointing season continued after going down to the Crusaders 21-8 in Canberra. A double to replacement winger Manasa Mataele and some tough goal line defence whilst reduced to 13 men extended the Crusaders dominance over the Brumbies that stretches back to 2010.
It’s hard enough to win against 15 players, but the Brumbies were given a golden chance to take advantage in the second half when the Crusaders were down to 13 men but their execution let them down to let the Crusaders off the hook and come away with a 13 point win.
The Match
The Brumbies got off the best possible start with a try to Henry Speight in just the second minute.
That’s about where the highlights ended for the home side in the opening half, as it seemed one-way traffic with the Crusaders showing their class as they enjoyed most of the possession and territory from that point.
There was a period of some great goal line defence but it only delayed the Crusaders getting over the line with Tim Bateman opening the scoring for the visitors after 16 minutes.
The Brumbies set piece was under the pump in the half with Jaco Peyper penalising them numerous times at scrum time and some shaky lineouts from Folau Fainga’a.
Off a first phase move following a scrum penalty, winger Seta Tamanivalu threw a flick pass to Bateman who dived over and Mike Delany converted for a 7-5 lead.
Minutes later, the Brumbies went down to 14 men after Chance Peni copped a yellow card after a high tackle on Israel Dagg, who would leave the field and take no further part in the game after failing a HIA.
With Peni in the bin, the Crusaders took full advantage to score 14 points with two converted tries to replacement winger Manasa Mataele.
The first came from a five metre scrum with the Brumbies having only seven in the pack, Mataele stepped passed Tom Cusack to score.
Five minutes later Mataele had his second with the Crusaders starting to find easy gaps in the defensive line as Matt Todd sliced through and Delany’s third conversion made it 21-5.
The Brumbies barely had their hands on the ball or ventured into the Crusaders half but Wharenui Hawera was able to stem the bleeding from the Peyper cuts to land a much needed penalty to make it a 13 point game.
With the half time siren gone, there was a bit more action to go with the TMO having a look at a late shoulder on Ryan Crotty from Blake Enever. But after a number of phases the Crusaders wouldn’t add to their score.
The second half was a very different story with the Brumbies finally able to get their hands on the ball and get in the Crusaders half.
There was a period around the 60 minute mark where they were virtually camped on the Crusaders line but, as was the story of their season so far, they were unable to take advantage of a golden opportunity against 13 players after Scott Barrett then Ryan Crotty were given yellow cards with Peyper having enough of the Crusaders infringing on their own line.
It was their set piece and general awareness with some unnecessary kicking that let them down again as they went for the try but came up empty in the period they had a two-man advantage.
Neither team was able to add to their half time score but the Crusaders had done enough by then to secure the 21-8 win.
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The Game Changer
The Crusaders were always in front but their defence on their own line whilst down to 13 was very impressive[/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
The G&GR MOTM
Plenty of Crusaders put their hand up with Mataele bagging a double but Jordan Taufua’s work around the field gives him the nod[/one_third]
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Wallaby Watch
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[/one_third]
The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]BRUMBIES 8
Tries: Speight
Conversions:
Penalties: Hawera
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]CRUSADERS 21
Tries: Mataele 2, Bateman
Conversions: Delany 3
Penalties:
[/one_half]
Cards
20 min – Peni (Brumbies) – Yellow
58 mins – Barrett (Crusaders) – Yellow
61 mins – Crotty (Crusaders) – Yellow
