Power of patience delivers the unlikely Super Rugby final

But for a pushed drop goal from Dan Carter, we could this week be talking about something that seemed so highly unlikely last week: the Brumbies hosting the Super Rugby decider in Canberra.

As it stands, we have a final that was considered only slightly less unlikely than the Brumbies playing at home, with the ACT side now heading to Hamilton to play the Chiefs on Saturday night, after having a few days at home beforehand.

If the Brumbies weren’t written off completely, they certainly weren’t given a lot of chance to overcome the Bulls in Pretoria.

The Bulls had never lost a playoff match at their Loftus Versfeld fortress, and indeed were unbeaten at home in 2013.

The Brumbies hadn’t won in Pretoria since 2006.

All the playoff games had gone with the higher seeded teams thus far; surely the travel factor and the turnaround time from playing on the previous Sunday afternoon would prove too much.

Last year, in falling at the final hurdle, the Sharks travel schedule through the finals series went Durban-Brisbane-Cape Town-Hamilton.

The Brumbies this year are looking at the marginally better Canberra-Pretoria-Canberra-Hamilton on their way to the decider. The few days at home before heading across the ditch later in the week could be the difference.

And the Carter missed drop goal isn’t the reason the Brumbies aren’t hosting, of course it’s not. That’s just the little romantic notion that we allow ourselves in the lead-up to a final.

It is the easy target to point the finger at, though, and to make the ever-present reference about rugby being a game of inches (even if the drop goal missed by more than a few metres rather than just a few inches).

So what got the Chiefs and the Brumbies over the line? Defence, essentially. And the power of patience.

The Chiefs got some good early results out of rushing up on the Crusaders in defence, forcing the Crusaders into a number of unforced passes not going to hand or not needed, rushed kicks being charged down.

In the second half, they upped their line speed and intensity in defence again, as a way of trying to get themselves back into the contest which the Crusaders had largely controlled heading into the break.

Soon after a midfield break from their inspirational captain Craig Clarke, and despite a pretty ordinary cross-field kick from Aaron Cruden, the Chiefs found themselves pressuring the Crusaders’ line, and took the lead for the first time when Lelia Masaga charged back toward the posts on the fringe of the ruck.

How he got through was extraordinary; a perfect mix of vision, speed, and determination.

From there on, the Chiefs would hold on through their incredible defence, and patience.

When the Crusaders fought straight back from the Masaga try, to be attacking the Chiefs’ line almost immediately, it took a massive defensive effort over the course of three or four minutes – including at least three genuine try-saving tackles, most notably Cruden on Ryan Crotty – to again force the Crusaders’ error.

In the next passage of play that Cruden scored would turn out to be the match-winning intercept try. The Chiefs rushed up on Carter and Kieran Read, and the impact of the tackle on Read (and I couldn’t tell if it was Liam Messam or Tanerau Latimer) forced his pass to defect backwards of Luke Romano, which in turn forced Crotty to turn his back while passing.

Cruden saw all this and pounced.

Defence and patience. Even when Israel Dagg scored the freak comeback try only he is capable of, the Chiefs’ resolve held out. Even when Cruden pushed a late clutch penalty goal wide, he redeemed himself only minutes later.

Even when Carter did slot the penalty goal to bring the margin back to one point, the Chiefs’ defence held its shape, and they held their collective nerves for one last effort at securing a home final.

It was their defensive pressure that forced Carter to rush that last-ditch drop goal, and it was their determination that forced Tom Marshall into touch in the last minute.

They say the hardest thing about defending a title is winning the first one, and the Chiefs will go into the decider at home with a confident ‘been there, done that’ feeling.

It’s a feeling they’re well entitled to have, too, and we’ve probably forgotten over the last month they did run in the top three for most of the season.

However…

The Brumbies must be thinking now that they’re indestructible. Heading into their semi-final in Pretoria, facing the Chiefs was always going to be less daunting than taking on the red-hot Crusaders, even in Canberra.

And if they can win in Pretoria, in a playoff, having not won there at all in seven years, then they can surely win in Hamilton.

Having topped the Australian conference all season, they will be telling themselves there is no reason why they can’t do what no other team in the history of Super Rugby has done: won finals series games in all three SANZAR nations.

As has been the case in all the cut-throat wins the Brumbies have recorded this year – the British and Irish Lions back in June, the Cheetahs last weekend – their defensive systems, and their faith in the guy next to them in the line was what got them through.

Even in the second half, when the Bulls were coming back at them via penalty goals – or not coming at them via penalty goals, as the surprising case was in the 66th, 69th, and 73rd minutes – the Brumbies’ defence held tight.

And then there was the patience. Even when they seemed to be shooting themselves in the foot through silly little errors like kicks out on the full, the endemic dropping of high balls, and even the great George Smith knocking on while taking a quick tap after yet another brilliant turnover, they would’ve been backing themselves to find the points they needed.

I’m sure they’d have liked them to have come before the 79th minute, but they got there.

The Brumbies were strong across the park, but a couple of new ‘McKenzie Wallabies’ in Scott Fardy, Tevita Kuridrani, and Matt Toomua, were outstanding.

Toomua’s hit on Morne Steyn in the first half effectively took Steyn out of the game as an attacking threat; Steyn played a lot deeper thereafter.

If this win is remembered down the track as one of the great Brumbies wins – and it’s already being spoken of in those terms – it could also be the game those three players went from Super Rugby players to internationals.

Ben Alexander and Scott Sio deserve special praise, too, for leading the demolition on the Bulls’ scrum.

So on to Hamilton we go, even if only metaphorically, and the decider between two teams who are both keen to add to their title tally, and believing that they’re suitably equipped to do so.

Defence and patience will again play major roles and, if the semis are anything to go by, we’re in for a cracking final.

For supporters looking for something to cling to, remember this: the Brumbies have never lost a finals match to the Chiefs.

But then, the Chiefs haven’t lost a playoff match in Hamilton…