The Brumbies have knocked out defending Super Rugby champions the Chiefs after clinging on for a 32-30 win in an epic qualifying final in Canberra.
The Brumbies raced out to a 22-3 lead on Saturday night, but as they learnt in last year’s grand final, you can never write off a side chasing their third straight title.
All Blacks fly-half Aaron Cruden spearheaded the fightback as the Chiefs levelled the scores midway through the second half.
But the Brumbies regained the advantage with a converted try from a well-constructed driving maul before Cruden failed to convert a Gareth Anscombe five-pointer with three minutes to go.
It was sweet revenge for the Brumbies as Ben Mowen won what is likely to be his last and 50th game as skipper in front of 14,284 fans at Canberra’s GIO Stadium.
A fourth-minute yellow card to Chiefs centre Tim Nanai-Williams for cynical ruck play hurt the visitors, the Brumbies crossing twice in his absence and then immediately after his return to race out to a 19-3 lead.
Wallabies halfback Nic White was brilliant, scoring the first of his side’s four tries from a surprise snipe and delivering crisp ball all night.
Workhorse lock Sam Carter was brilliant in getting over the advantage line, while it took three Chiefs players to bring down superb winger Henry Speight on most occasions.
Fullback Jessie Mogg brilliantly attacked from a kick return in the ninth minute to put over Robbie Coleman, giving the Brumbies a 14-3 lead.
The Chiefs dug in until Nanai-Williams came back on, but the defence would soon again crack, Mogg finishing off an 18-phase attack to go up 19-3 in just the 20th minute.
Christian Lealiifano then knocked over a penalty but the Chiefs would finish the half on a high with Bundee Aki scoring to narrow the gap to 22-10.
Both sides traded penalties after the break, before the game was turned on its head, dangerman Speight binned in the 49th minute for the same reason as Nanai-Williams was in the first half.
Chiefs halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow then scored to make it a five-point game before Nanai-Williams crossed to level the scores.
Lealiifano then missed a simple penalty shot, but they soon made amends when Jarrad Butler crashed over from the back of a rolling maul that involved several backline players.
But the Chiefs weren’t done, Anscombe scoring his side’s fourth try before Cruden crucially missed the conversion from the corner.
Jack
Guest
What about people raised in Oz. people who live here for years and benefit for all that that brings and then still want to play for NZ. People like Brad Thorn who came here at the age of 8. Poached? He wanted to play for the ABs. Henry wants to play for the Wallabies..
Jack D
Guest
I've been to 95% of Brumbies home games since the start. The crowds started to thin, firstly when the price jumped too much, then again during he period of "player power" era when some players gave half assed efforts (not you Henry and Steve ; you were all hard effort all the way and the fans will always rate you for it). Then boring rugby created by poor refereeing; looking for reasons to penalise, not strictly enforcing offside, over-reffing the scrum etc and too much kicking away good possession did the rest. I couldn't give away tickets. The ARU has done nothing to support Canberra Rugby. The ABs and the Saffas never play here. Three French tests and nothing here. The bloody AFL supporters get test matches and the heartland gets FA. That's why crowds in Canberra are falling. The ARU doesn't rate the market here worth competing for. Stop trying to make friends and look after the family.
Old Bugger
Guest
CW Toomua really is an excellent tackler - it's just that at FH, you become more susceptible to tackling forwards twice your size whereas one spot further out at IC, you are outside of the forwards tram lines and most tackles are then against your opposite. I've seen Toomua do some huge hits from the IC spot because he's not being worn down by tackling the grunters charging at him when he's standing at FH.
Zero Gain
Guest
Ha Ha, good one, but probably not willingly.
Zero Gain
Guest
Yes, it was harsh and if the Chiefs were my team I would not have liked it. But it's like when the Reds were penalised for eye gouging and the resulting penalty lost them the game - if the player had not infringed then the referee could not have made that decision, you roll the dice you live with the result.
soapit
Guest
actually thats probably not a bad way to judge these ones, if ur in front of the last feet youre fair game
soapit
Guest
nailed it
Tah Man
Guest
Wouldn't say the best team won. The team with the most points at the end of the game won!!!!!!!!!
Captain Obvious
Guest
Agree. Players can play where they will get the best outcome for them and their families. They do not belong to the nzru like some kind of indentured serf. If you can qualify as a citizen of a country, you should be able to play for that country imho. The players coming to Aus are in general fringe players with little to no hope of playing for the ab's or even securing regular super rugby spots. Would you rather ride the pine or come to aus and get treated/paid like a star player? All it shows is that the NZ talent pipeline has breadth and depth far beyond the meagre trickle from the oz "oh sir!" private school system. The oppourtunities to play o/s is a good thing for nz rugby imo. It will provide incentive fir more players to try and make a go of bring a professional player meaning a greater pool to select from on the way up. Those that don't make the AB grade can go to oz or nh clubs.
WQ
Guest
Cheers Dave H
Jerry
Guest
What about the illegal clearout? It wasn't illegal, that's what. Either the cleared out player was bound to the ruck or he was miles offside and interfering with the halfback.
dubaikiwi
Guest
BMW i bever said the better team lost, i have never attacked Joubert about his personal life, i have said he is a crap referee and has been for a long time. I have never talked about the eligibility of players, i believe it is up to the players where they ply there trade. Of course i believe the Chiefs could have won with a bit of luck, but thats the game and luck goes to those that make it their own. So i dont know why you bring my name into your counselling
dubaikiwi
Guest
So if the chiefs are crap and only lose by two points and could easily have won, what does that make the Brumbies. By the way I think both teams deserved their places on merit and the best team won on the night i also still believe Joubert is a crap referee and has been for a long time.
Dave H
Guest
WQ I agree 100%. Ridiculous decision so early on especially as it was brumbies players going straight off thier feet without any attempt to remove him but rather to cynically gain a penalty by locking him into place where he couldn't roll. At the time before the card came out I commented to my son how I thought the penalty should have gone the other way but then was blown away when the card came out. I think he is a very good ref but I believe he had it in his mind from the start to stamp his authority early and in this case got it wrong. I also was surprised at the number of times the brumbies got away with players loitering in the Chiefs back line or on the wrong side of the ruck - what the commentators kept calling "good line speed" should have been described as blatantly off side. I will probably get roasted for those comments as you have by the various kiwi haters desperately trying to justify a dubious decision in thier teams favout but really don't care. Well done.
Rotuma Island
Guest
the title of the article reads "Brumbies knock out Chiefs........" yet most of the comments is about poaching n Speight's eligibility, for me i don't care who plays where as long as i enjoy watching them play and my rugby im fine with it. Fekitoa chose to play for the ABs and that's his God given right to do so, if Speight wants to play for the Wallabies that is his own business, enough with this nonsense silly childish arguments about where each player should play for, just enjoy the game.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Well I was watching the game from the Irish Pobb at Katoomba NSW and I thought Jourbet probably for perhaps the first time ever reffed the game fairly (although the first yellow card was a disputed call) I had a great time downed three pints of kilkenny had a beef and guiness pie was a bit sad the Tahs didnt get the shawwks instead of the brumbies but here's to the semis -may they go down in shining rugby history as the best semi-finals ever (and I got shtinkerly shtonkered to boot ;-) )
Captain Obvious
Guest
Don't worry Nek. Winning silverware is such a rare occurance for the ockers that the mere thought of it swells up their heads and makes them carry on as if they are superior beings. They will revert to the normality of an empty trophy cupboard soon enough, whatever the outcome of this year's finals.
frisky
Guest
Enough about the merits of teh two yellow cards. Whhat about the illegal clean-out by the Chiefs in teh 49th minute which allowed their try? Watch the Fox replay above. The ref should have asked for a review and then awarded the Brumbies a penalty. I saw something similar during the S-15 (a Crusaders non-try from memory ??)
WEST
Roar Guru
Yes, you could be right. I doubt it would have helped the result much.
Rob9
Guest
If this 'poaching' you speak of is for the betterment of our international strength, there must be some appalling scouting going on. You mentioned Harris who's now well down the list of potential Wallaby 12's or 15's and Woodward who's gone home and I don't believe he consistently proved himself to be within the top 5 outside backs in the country. Apparently there are 23 (?) more kiwis floating around Australian SR teams and although many might not yet be eligible, which ones exactly are commanding the attention of Wallaby selectors? Fuglistaller?? May be when Hooper, Hodgson and Gill join Pocock in the casualty ward.