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Joe Tomane’s hat-trick of tries in the first 25 minutes set up the Brumbies’ crushing 39-19 win over the Stormers at Newlands, and a semi-final meeting against the table-topping Hurricanes at Wellington next Saturday night.
However, there’s a downside. Crack winger Henry Spieght earned himself a red card in the 73rd minute for his dangerous throw of stand-in Stormers’ skipper Juan de Jongh who was not in possession.
Dumb rugby.
Just one minute later Scott Fardy, who is just a sniff away from a yellow card every game, copped one for a professional foul.
So it seems certain Speight’s Super Rugby season is over, and Fardy could be missing for the Wellington clash as well.
Whether the Brumbies can progress without two important cogs in their machinery remains to be seen, on top of a debilitating air travel schedule from Canberra to Sydney, to Johannesburg, to Cape Town, to Johannesburg, to Sydney and then Wellington.
On the credit side, David Pocock once again stamped himself as the top number seven in Australia. He was tireless in attack and defence, despite heavy attention lasting the entire 80 minutes.
Skipper Stephen Moore was instrumental in setting up two of the Brumbies’ six tries, with behemoth lock Rory Arnold, at 208cm and 127kgs, getting through a ton of slog, as did prop Scott Sio.
Number eight Ita Vaea scored one of those tries through sheer strength, and if he plays like that next week, the Hurricanes will know they have been hit with the kitchen sink.
But halfback Nic White is a complex character.
Three times in the first half he was the only Brumby to sense danger, reading the play brilliantly to be on hand to touch down under intense pressure to force a quarter line drop-out.
Against that, White’s constant chatter, barking orders to team-mates, and arguing with the referee, keep costing precious moments to get the enterprising Brumby back-line in motion.
Less talk and more action from White will greatly improve the Brumbies chances of an upset against the Hurricanes.
So the Stormers bow out, severely missing Schalk Burger and skipper Duane Vermeulin through injury. Losing seven lineouts on their feed also stopped the Stormers from being far more competitive and dangerous deep in Brumby territory.
As a result, this will be the first time since 2000 there are no South African teams in the semi-finals.
The other semi next week at Allianz Stadium will be the defending champion Waratahs taking on the Highlanders who surprised the Chiefs 24-14.
So will it be an all-Australian final, an all-New Zealand final, or one each?