Brumbies veteran Stirling Mortlock became the first player in Super rugby to breach the 1000-point barrier in his side’s 24-15 opening round win over the Western Force in Perth on Friday night.
Mortlock booted three conversions and a penalty for the Brumbies as they overcame the golden boot of James O’Connor and a dogged but injury-prone Force.
O’Connor nailed his first five penalties to keep the Force within touch after the Brumbies made a bright start to the contest with two first-half tries to Stephen Moore and Josh Valentine.
But with the Force trailing 17-15 in the 70th minute, the 19-year-old Connor couldn’t live up to his earlier efforts, missing his first penalty of the night from 36m out on a slight angle.
It was a reprieve the Brumbies made the most of, swinging the ball to the other end of the ground where substitute hooker Huia Edmonds touched down near the corner after shaking off O’Connor’s desperate tackle just three metres from the line.
Mortlock nailed the conversion to make it 24-15 in the 72nd minute and the former Wallabies skipper produced a try-saving but possibly slightly high tackle minutes later after the Force made a promising break to ensure his team held on to victory.
The Western Force’s injury curse struck hard before kick-off, with five-eighth Mark Bartholomeusz, filling in for the injured Andre Pretorius, ruled out with a neck complaint and winger Cameron Shepherd straining his quad during the warm-up.
But the Brumbies were also dealt a blow when Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom failed a late fitness test on his hamstring.
O’Connor’s hot boot kept the Force in touch during the first half as the Brumbies, dubbed the ‘Real Madrid’ of the competition due to their star-studded line-up, flexed their attacking muscle early.
Brumbies prop Ben Alexander made a surprise break in the 11th minute after a neat pass from Mortlock opened up the Force defence and it was ex-Force playmaker Valentine that crossed with ease.
O’Connor nailed a penalty in the 18th minute to make it 7-3 but the Force defence was again left wanting two minutes later when Adam Ashley-Cooper sprinted through a massive gap to set up hooker Moore for the Brumbies’ second try of the night.
However, the brilliance of O’Connor in open play and his deadly accuracy with the boot kept the scores tight, nailing three more penalties for the half to reduce the deficit to two by the break.
Mortlock and O’Connor traded penalties early in the second half as the home side’s defences started to dominate but the Force missed two chances to go ahead, a 53m penalty attempt from Brett Sheehan and O’Connor’s late miss.
All of the Force’s points came through O’Connor’s boot but the Perth-based franchise will be desperately hoping Bartholomeusz’s neck injury isn’t serious after his replacement, Sam Harris, had a shocker.
The Force will also be sweating on the fitness of Wallabies No.8 Richard Brown, who injured his right shoulder during a crunching tackle in the second half.
Force coach John Mitchell confirmed Bartholomeusz was likely to miss two to three weeks.
“We’ve had a wretched five days of injuries with Andre, Barty and Shep all pulling up short,” Mitchell said.
“We dogged that in big time.
“We were in the contest for a long time.
“We didn’t have possession for long enough periods … (but) when Jimmy had a kick on goal we were right in that match.”
Brumbies coach Andy Friend said his team were almost made to pay dearly for their lack of discipline.
“Yeah lots to work on still but very lucky to get the four points,” Friend said.
“I thought we started well, scored two reasonable tries, but then probably sat back.
“We knew the Force were a tenacious team and they kept coming us.
“We then lost our discipline, lost our structure and a bit of shape.”
© AAP 2012Recommend this story.
The Turkey 10
The Turkey 10 teams have now been selected, as Wild Turkey Bourbon's sport sponsorship kicks into the next exciting phase.
Choose which side you're going to support and get in the running to win $2,500!
Simply visit Wild Turkey Australia on Facebook for your chance to win.
Find out more.
- Explore:
- Brumbies, James OConnor, Rugby Union, Stirling Mortlock, Super Rugby, Western Force
February 13th 2010 @ 2:11pm
ballboy said | February 13th 2010 @ 2:11pm | Report comment
I think both coaches will be scratching their heads.
Mitch is polishing the patch thinking, “Oh hungie, this is going to be a long season.”
and Friend was scratching his head thinking, “Cricky, we should have put another 20 points on them but were lucky to get away with the win”.
In saying that, I thought the Brumbies loved up to their pre season edict and kept the ball in hands and ran it a lot more. Probably had a lot to do with what was in front of them but there were some encouraging signs. I also thought the ref had a cracker of a game.
And Go the Wannabies, attaching scurms are penalised for collapsing the scrum becasue they fail to bind correctly. Well, that’s one of the reasons….at a guess, being a precious past back who never even watched the scurms packing down for fear that it might scar me.
Go the Brumbies!!!
February 13th 2010 @ 5:44pm
Brett McKay said | February 13th 2010 @ 5:44pm | Report comment
So Ballboy, you might say the Brumbies played what was in front of them….
And here we were thinking that concept was dead….
Agree with most comments, good game for the first 30 minutes or so, and then it fell away in the back half. Peter hit it on the head up the top: this was definitely Week 1..
February 13th 2010 @ 3:32pm
Rin said | February 13th 2010 @ 3:32pm | Report comment
Personally from my perspective (i was at the game) it was very enjoyable, there was some good rugby, Force didnt look like scoring but i blame that on Harris being shoved into flyhalf at the last minute and the big loss of Shepherd (remember he put three past the brumbies in canberra last year). Other things i noted:
(a) The Force back three dominated the brumbies, that was the cause of all the penalties within kicking distance
(b) Lelifiano had a really good game at inside centre (a good prospect).
(c) Mortlock looked slow and tired (my Brumbies mate pointed out to me how slow he was looking around the pitch).
(d) Brumbies not quite “Real Madrid”, esp without Gits.
February 13th 2010 @ 5:22pm
Matt said | February 13th 2010 @ 5:22pm | Report comment
After watching a few of the other games ( and 1/2 time in the Crusaders game), in comparison I think that the two Aussie teams looked purposeless on Friday night. They lack the pace, precision and passion of the other contests. Lift the game boys, or this will be a very long season for Force and Brumbies fans.
February 13th 2010 @ 7:13pm
Lee said | February 13th 2010 @ 7:13pm | Report comment
Add the waratahs and reds to that long season the way the game has been going so far
February 13th 2010 @ 7:39pm
ballboy said | February 13th 2010 @ 7:39pm | Report comment
You’re rigt SM – it is week one. Let’s all relax and not bring the knife down just yet. We’re all so quick to write teams off. The coments like “Lift your game or else’ mentality is rather short sighted.
February 14th 2010 @ 9:55am
matt said | February 14th 2010 @ 9:55am | Report comment
Yes Ballboy, you are right. Thereś nothing wrong with Australian rugby, itś getting better all the time (repeat as necessary).
February 14th 2010 @ 12:11pm
ballboy said | February 14th 2010 @ 12:11pm | Report comment
I’ll remember that comment and fall on my sword if necessary Matt – that or I’ll remind you of your premature knee jerk reactional comments come finals time.
February 14th 2010 @ 12:28pm
matt said | February 14th 2010 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Very fair call.
I do realise itś week one, but the kiwi teams (in particular) just look so much more purposeful than their Aussie counterparts (haven´t watched the African games).