Australian Super Rugby teams have enjoyed their best collective weekend in almost three months as the Brumbies kept a pulse going on their finals prospects.
The ACT team put a controversial week behind them after defying Wallabies coach Michael Cheika’s request to rest three star players, defeating the Sunwolves 41-31 on Sunday.
David Pocock, Scott Sio and Allan Alaalatoa started at GIO Stadium but came off midway through the second half in preparation for the Wallabies’ first Test against Ireland.
That result followed Melbourne breaking a three-year winless drought on Saturday for Australian teams playing on New Zealand soil, while the NSW Waratahs won a high-scoring derby against Queensland.
Three wins out of four were the best results by Australian teams since mid-March when the Brumbies, Waratahs and Reds all won in the same round.
While far from convincing against the undermanned Japanese team at home, Brumbies coach Dan McKellar hasn’t ruled out his team making an unlikely charge towards the finals.
It was the first time since rounds 14 and 15 last year that the Brumbies achieved successive victories.
The Waratahs and Rebels – separated by one point in the Australian conference – are in a good position to play finals as they sit sixth and seventh on the overall table with three games remaining.
But the Brumbies remain an outside hope after snatching a bonus point ahead of games against the Hurricanes, Chiefs and Waratahs.
The Jaguares are a game-and-a-half ahead of the Brumbies in eighth spot.
“I think mathematically we’re still a chance but we’ve got our own little three-game finals series coming up (after the June Test series),” McKellar said.
McKellar also called for Brumbies fans to “come back in droves” after a much-improved crowd of 9521 for the Sunwolves clash followed the second-worst turnout in the club’s history last month.
Meanwhile, the Rebels ended a 32-game drought for Australian teams across the Tasman as they defeated the Blues 20-10 in Auckland.
Their seventh win of the season – equalling the biggest season tally in club history – did come at a cost.
Star hooker Jordan Uelese suffered a suspected ACL injury, ruling him out of Wallabies duties.
Uelese, 21, was the most experienced No.2 in Michael Cheika’s Wallabies squad with just two appearances off the bench.
It leaves the Reds’ Brendon Paenga-Amosa and the Brumbies’ Folau Fainga’a, who missed the Sunwolves match through suspension, in line for an extraordinary starting berth in the three-Test series against the Irish.
The next round of Super Rugby action gets underway on June 29 following the international break.
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