I have been a rusted-on Brumbies nut from Day 1 in 1996. Let’s face it, it’s just a lot less stressful than being a Reds or Waratahs fan!
In their quarter-final in Canberra on Saturday night, it was great to watch them completely shut the Sharks out of the game despite having far less of the ball than their South African opponents.
Dan McKellar’s men are the real deal – they have the smarts to go all the way in the 2019 Super Rugby championship.
As always, they used their rolling maul intelligently off the back of a strong lineout, and showed how good they are at defending it as well. The Canberrans still haven’t conceded a try from a rolling maul all season.
Peter Samu was my man of the match with his two tries, having really stood up at number 8 despite only playing half the match. It’s a real shame his hamstring injury will stop him from appearing in Buenos Aires in the semi-final against the Jaguares.
I was hugely impressed by the way the Brumbies used big second rower Rory Arnold in the middle of the field as a link man. Let’s not forget that before he first played senior rugby in Brisbane only a handful of years ago, he was running out as a centre for his club, somewhere out in the Queensland bush.
I would not be at all surprised if Peter Hewat and Laurie Fisher add a couple more unorthodox moves to the playbook for this week’s semi-final.
Let’s all just hope they can stretch out and sleep on that flight to Buenos Aires!
But the side are looking very strong – get your money on them now, folks, because their odds are only shortening.
Ex force fan
Guest
Hope they can take it all the way, it is possible but not likely - there is a lot of flying just to get to the final and the Argies will not hand a final spot on a plate to the Brumbies. History tells us that the home team usually win in the finals. If the Saders gets stuck and the final is played in ACT it could get interesting.
gatesy
Roar Guru
Finals footy - anything can happen. That's the difference when you are a Brumbies fan - you get the privilege of actually believing in your boys!
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Hope you’re right mate. But they’ve already done me proud and brought me great joy this season, whatever happens next.
Ralph
Roar Guru
Gutted for Pete Samu, having done all that hard work all season only to miss out on the semi. Tough how the cards fall sometimes.
Redsfan1
Guest
A good team but I doubt even the author really believes they will. The Brumbies have actually already lost to both teams they would potentially have left- the Jaguares and Crusaders. They are playing away now and that's pretty much a fait accompli.