The Brumbies have moved to the top of the Australian Conference with a massive win over the Sunwolves, defeating the Japanese franchise 66-5.
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The Sunwolves held on to a lot of possession in both halves, and had some great field position after the half time break, but their inability to capitalise on their chances meant they just kept slipping down the slippery slope once they turned over.
Credit should go the the Brumbies defence though, who put up an absolute wall, often having to hold out 10-15 phases each time.
The Brumbies had 8 different try scorers in the end, with doubles going to Nigel Ah Wong and Stephen Moore. Leali’ifano had a good time with the boot, sinking 8 from 10 conversions, the majority from the sideline.
Both sides were slow off the mark as they adjusted to the cold, but the Brumbies were quick to heat up – laying on four converted tries in just 20 minutes in front of a crowd of 10,479.
Wallabies flanker Scott Fardy opened the Brumbies’ account in the 12th minute, followed by Moore, Michael Dowsett and Ah Wong for a 28-0 lead at halftime.
While possession was fairly evenly split, Japan’s Sunwolves lacked any attacking spark and were one man short either side of the break after lock Hitoshi Ono was given a yellow card for a backwards headbutt on Rory Arnold.
Moore scored his second try just a few minutes into the half before getting an early mark for the Wallabies camp, which starts on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.
Fullback Aidan Toua, Jordan Jackson-Hope, in-form James Dargaville and Lausii Taliauli crossed over soon after. It was Jackson-Hope’s first in Super Rugby.
Dargaville was impressive with 11 runs for 180m, while Ah Wong was a standout on the wing and Toua had a hand in a couple of tries.
They couldn’t keep a clean sheet, though, with the competition’s leading tryscorer, Akihito Yamada, getting the Sunwolves’ only five-pointer in the 67th minute.
Ah Wong capped the night with his second after the fulltime siren.
The poor old Sunwolves continue to struggle in their debut season. The big story though is the Brumbies who leap frog the Waratahs into top spot in the Aussie Conference, the only realistic finals position available for the Australian teams.
With AAP.
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