His Brumbies may have lost, but coach Jake White insists the manner of their nail-biting 29-22 defeat to the Chiefs proves they’re fast becoming a Super Rugby force to be reckoned with.
The Brumbies entered the match on Friday as outsiders against a side that claimed two significant New Zealand scalps – the Blues and Crusaders – over the past fortnight and had never before lost a game at Bay Park Stadium in Mount Maunganui.
The Chiefs proved the bookies right, but only in the final minute when outside centre Jackson Willison scored in the left corner to give the home side a seven-point victory heading into next week’s bye.
White was ruing what could have been given just three minutes earlier when Christian Lealiifano, who booted five penalties, calmly converted a try from replacement forward Sam Carter to level the scores at 22-22.
“We came so close. It’s not nice to lose in that way,” said the South African.
“I thought maybe it was enough to get a draw even though we didn’t use our opportunities in the first half, then we ended up losing in the last play of the game.
“It’s a credit to the Chiefs – they’re a really good team, beating the Blues and the Crusaders.
“But then that puts into perspective how much we’ve improved in such a small space of time.”
The Brumbies are two wins from three after close victories over the Western Force and the Cheetahs, but White said it’s the latest loss that might reveal the most about his fledgling squad.
“No one really gave us the chance to be competitive and at this point in time, we’ve set ourselves up to win every single game, so that’s a huge positive,” said White.
“I think people can now probably say the Brumbies are going to be competitive.
“People will sit up and take notice.”
The Brumbies had the edge with both possession and territory in the first half, but couldn’t capitalise – most significantly when an outstretched Scott Fardy lost the ball just short of the line.
White said it could have made all the difference to head into the break a couple of points up, rather than deadlocked at 9-9.
Instead, it was Chiefs prop Sona Taumalolo who crashed over from close range for the first try of the night in the 69th minute with Aaron Cruden converting to put the hosts up 22-15.
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie said he’d always predicted a dog-fight with the up-and-coming Brumbies, who he said forced the New Zealand side to play wide despite the game plan to go up the middle and draw tacklers in.
“Maybe 22-all in the end would have been a fair reflection in the end … but I think we showed a lot of composure to be able to steal it in the end,” he told AAP.
“There’s probably not too many things that we’re not jumping up and down for joy with, so we’re not happy with the performance, but we got four points out of it.”
mania
Guest
kicking game is a good strategy provided that the 1) well executed kick and 2) good chase. good chase means more fitness and team work. box kicks by the brumbies were pretty aimless. chiefs did not start this game with their heads fully in it. brumbies gave them a scare and i wish the chiefs had lost to teach them a lesson. brumbies came ready and kept the chiefs disorgansied and kept them off their game till latein the 2nd half. big ups to the brumbies, they came to play and showed some promise. chiefs hopefully got a wake up call that every team they play should be taken seriuosly and every game needs 100% commitment from the kick off.
Rugbug
Guest
I strongly disagree Fatty, the Brumbies were able to get a better platform by the Chiefs poor basic handling. Don't get me wrong the Brumbies were a huge step up on their previous matches however the Chiefs were not even close to their best, sure some of it could be put down to pressure from the Brumbies however I believe the Chiefs put most of the pressure on themselves by playing dumb rugby and not executing the basic skills very well at all. Funny thing is your argument could be used for the Tahs and Reds but fuynnily enough the Tahs are being rightfully bagged yet the Reds somehow lost their match the Sharks didn't win it, which I think is the biggest crock of the day so far. I love it how when Australian teams underperform the excuses are tenible however if a SA or NZ team underperform its because the Australian teams are that much better.
Angus Alcock
Guest
Haha I agree with you but replaced by whom? There are only two 9s in the squad so they would be replaced by each other...
Bakkies
Guest
Exactly or heaven forbid hack it down field to the back three. A good box kick needs to go out or high in the air for the chasers.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
Chiefs lucky to get away with a win. Never like to see a winning side split up but i guess coming into the bye they wanted to give a few boys a start. The Messam, Latimer combination needs to be broken. Both good players but much to loose. What a great example of what a good coach can do. Some of those Chiefs forwards are in the form of thier lives. Taumalolo Shwalger Thompson Clarke. Awesome.
Justin
Guest
Anyone else think the NZ commentator hd a man crush on Lealiafano? He dropped 3 highballs, had another knock on and his field kicking needs huge work. I like him as a player but he needs a stack more urgency and power in his general kicking. The match could have gone either way but well done Chiefs to win an important one. The Ref managed the game very well. I though he made two mistakes with intentional offsides that were only given knocks ons which favoured the Chiefs.
crashy
Guest
I hope the canberra faithful support this team in numbers at the next home game. These kids are having a red hot crack and is great to see. This crop could provide some great depth to the national setup in the next few years.. Gutted they couldn't hold on for the draw.
Fatty
Guest
Best performance by Brumbies for over 12 months. Reason why Chiefs did not have A game on was that Brumbies pack put it to them up front. Thats why there were so many handling errors by both sides...lots of feeling in the contact zone. Brumbies backs also stood up...both in attack and defence. Agree the bloody box kicking was a nightmare at times...but apart from that, the Brumbies came out as a team, which has been unheard of in recent times.
Chris
Guest
I don't like box kicks but... I prefer a box kick to the harebrained attempts to run the ball from inside the 22 from last year. Every single time they tried it they turned the ball over and had a try scored against them.
Blinky Bill of Bellingen
Guest
I was mighty impressed with the Brumbies effort. To be honest I thought they would get done & dusted but no way, they were right in there and even a chance to pull off an unlikely win. Must agree with others that the dreaded box kick & just poor kicking in general play is costing us. We need to get more accurate & smarter in this department.
Chris
Guest
I think both teams will be pretty happy with that game. The Cheifs got a win and the Brumbies showed they are not going to be easybeats. The Brumbies could be a bloody good team in 2013. The 2012 Brumbies would win 90% of the time over the 2011 team.
Rugbug
Guest
The Brumbies played well but lets not get carried away people, the Chiefs were not the same team that has beaten both the Blues and Crusaders in recent weeks and were well off their A game. The Chiefs certainly stepped up when they needed to and I personally thought they did that easily. I never for a second thought they would lose this match. The most entertaining part of the match was the rolling drive by the Brumbies that was a sight to behold and definitely showed the SA influence in the coaching of this team. As Clarke alluded to after the game they were certainly not at their best and made a hell of a lot of handling errors, I think they went in to this game expecting it to be a walkover and did not respect the Brumbies enough in saying that they still won and that is the ultimate aim of a rugby match to score more points than your opponents.
Jungle
Guest
Fully agree with you rabbitfan. Both Brumbies halfbacks gave away possession with stupid box kicks. Aimless kicking with no pressure on the catcher. Why doesn't the coach send out the message, next stupid kick and you will be replaced!
Bobby
Guest
Nice work Cheifs, a wins a win! keep it going
p.Tah
Guest
Just about to make the same comment. Fantastic name
Onor
Guest
People here in NZ cant understand the thinking behind kicking the ball away?? Give the ball to the other team to run it back at you and score... hmmm..
rabbitfan
Guest
Silly box kicks by the halfback and his last kick gave the chiefs possession to score in the final minutes, youd think the talk would have gone out DONT KICK THE BLOODY THING
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
By far Brumbies best match of the season (despite far too many handling errors). lots of positives to take out of the game particularly up front where they matched the Chiefs (first team to do so in 2012). Will be interesting to see them play the Reds and waratahs later on. Good for Deans and the wallabies too.
Johnny-boy
Guest
Crystal Ja ? You've just won the prize for topping the uniquely named rugby writers for 2012. A trophy Spiro had held for time infiniteness. Well done Brumbies. Keep going - except when you play the Reds