The ACT Brumbies brought a shuddering halt to Otago Highlanders’ perfect start to the Super Rugby season with a shock 33-26 victory over the New Zealand side in Canberra yesterday.
Winger Joe Tomane bagged two tries in the first 15 minutes and flanker Michael Hooper chipped in with an opportunist effort after the break, while flyhalf Christian Lealiifano kicked a perfect seven from seven with the boot.
It was a third win in four matches for the Brumbies this season under new South African coach Jake White after they won four in total during their last campaign.
“We back ourselves and I think you can see from the way we play that we trust each other,” a delighted Brumbies captain Ben Mowen said in a pitchside interview. “This is our home and we know we’ve got to play in a different gear here.”
The Highlanders, who had won their first four matches to top the Super Rugby standings, scored tries through scrumhalf Aaron Smith and center Shaun Treeby, but lost flyhalf Colin Slade to what looked like being a season-ending injury.
The luckless Slade, who missed most of last season after breaking his jaw twice and was ruled out the World Cup with a groin injury, badly injured his ankle in a Pat McCabe tackle after 50 minutes and was taken off the pitch on a stretcher.
Tomane’s early strikes gave the home side an early lead despite a paltry amount of possession, but the Highlanders hit back through Smith’s try after good work from Hosea Gear before the break.
When Treeby got up from a tackle and dashed across the line nine minutes after halftime, the match was all square at 23-23 and the momentum seemed to be with the visitors.
The teams traded penalties in the middle of the second half, but the match was decided when openside Hooper snaffled up a loose ball inside the Highlanders’ 22m line and just about made it to the line after 62 minutes.
The Brumbies had challenged the Highlanders in the tackle area all evening and the tactic paid off as they stifled the Highlanders’ ball in a tense final 18 minutes.
“Hats off to the Brumbies,” Highlanders skipper Jamie Mackintosh said. “Their intensity and physicality at the breakdown was top notch. It’s a disappointing performance, but that was due to a Brumbies team that were hungry.”
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