The ACT Brumbies ambushed the Super Rugby title-chasing Queensland Reds with a 22-14 victory in Brisbane yesterday, rubbing salt into the wound with a last-second penalty that denied their hosts a bonus point.
The Reds, clearly jaded after their draining last-gasp victory over the Canterbury Crusaders last weekend, remained top of the overall standings ahead of South Africa’s Stormers with two games to go, but with their lead was cut to one point.
The Brumbies, twice former champions, were inspired by flyhalf Matt Giteau as they grabbed just a third win of a miserable season by taking a 19-11 first-half lead and then defending fiercely to protect it.
Hooker Stephen Moore scored their only try in the first half and the rest of the points came from Giteau, who kicked a conversion and five penalties, including the one with the last kick that moved the deficit beyond seven points.
The Reds got a try through fullback Ben Lucas just before halftime, but despite plenty of possession were unable to add more than Quade Cooper’s third penalty in the second half.
A disappointing night was made worse when Reds winger Digby Ioane was knocked out cold in a tackle by Brumbies No. 8 Ita Vaea and taken off the pitch on a stretcher after 48 minutes.
The first 17 minutes was a kicking contest between the former and current Wallabies No. 10s with Giteau edging his successor Cooper three penalties to two to give the Brumbies an early 9-6 lead.
For all the world class back line talent on display, it was forward Moore who scored the opening try, trundling over under the posts after linking well with Vaea after 20 minutes.
Giteau added the extras and kicked a fourth penalty just past the half hour mark to extend the lead to 19-6, before the Reds finally got a try of their own when Lucas took a flat pass from Cooper and scurried over with his second effort.
The Brumbies continued to have great success with counter-rucking in the second half and the Reds, having cleared their replacements bench, lacked the spark to breach the wall of white shirts.
CHIEFS 16, BLUES 11
REUTERS, WELLINGTON
The Waikato Chiefs dealt another blow to the Auckland Blue’s title ambitions with a deserved victory in a typically hard-fought all-New Zealand clash at Eden Park yesterday.
A third successive defeat for the Blues drops them from second to third in the overall standings and left them just two points ahead of the Canterbury Crusaders in the race for the top spot in the New Zealand conference.
The seven-time champion Crusaders, who had a bye this week, host the Blues, who have won three Super Rugby titles, in Timaru in the penultimate round of the regular season next week.
The Chiefs, already well out of the playoff race, scored their only try through evergreen center Tana Umaga in the first half and had marginally the better kicker in Stephen Donald, who made four of seven kicks for 11 points.
The Blues hit back in the second period with a try from Jared Payne, but never had nearly enough possession to get their backs going as the Chiefs turned the screw at the set piece.
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