'Unreal': Brumbies defy red card, rain to sink Hurricanes and prevent NZ clean sweep

And then there was one.

The Brumbies are the last Australian side standing in Super Rugby Pacific, after powering past a physical Hurricanes 35-25 with a mighty second half in heavy rain at GIO Stadium.

The Brumbies overcame the loss of Len Ikitau in the 20th minute, when he was sent off for a high tackle. But if anything it lifted the team.

At one stage they were down by 11 points. In the second half they out-scored Wellington 20-3.

“It was an awesome effort,” captain Allan Alaalatoa told Stan Sport.

“We spoke about the importance of our finishers coming off the bench and we saw that tonight. Great for us moving forward to next week.”

“It was unreal,” Tom Banks added. “To overcome a red card and grind it out … it was our focus all week.

“We knew it wouldn’t come early. We just had to stay with it, and in the end we came away with it.”

It was a charge down by Banks himself that allowed the Brumbies to win a rolling maul, leading to Tom Wright’s match-winning try.

Proceedings began with the Hurricanes desperate to mark TJ Perenara’s 150th Super Rugby game with a win on the road, and ensure a third finals win for New Zealand sides over their Australian counterparts.

Jordie Barrett, with a bigger boot than the one the Australian government wanted to kick Bart Simpson with, landed a goal from beyond halfway. Then he did it again from 45m. It’s some weapon.

Crazy to think there was criticism in New Zealand about playing Barrett at 12. He’d soon bob up one off the ruck and bunt a pin-point punt to fullback Josh Moorby on the wing, who scored the first try of the match.

Scott Sio, in his last game at home after 11 seasons of sterling service, said to win the game the Brumbies must win the collisions. The Hurricanes had the same plan. The visitors threw many bodies at the ACT line and at the breakdown.

There was a penalty with a 10-phase advantage, and an immediate penalty after the advantage was over.

Ikitau was found on replay to have tackled Aidan Morgan for what counts as high today. We looked at it for long minutes on the screen. Shoulder to chin at speed. And off Ikitau went – red card.

Barrett kicked another goal. It was 14-3. The Brumbies would play the rest of the half with 14 men.

If anything, it sparked them.

Nic White ran the show, sending waves of big humans at the Canes’ line. Owen Franks threw himself at Noah Lolesio – high, late, chest to chest, head to head. The home crowd yelled out ‘no mitigating factors!’… or words to that effect.
They didn’t not agree with the yellow card shown to Franks, either, who trotted off like a schoolkid who’d got detention when he was expecting to be expelled.

The Brumbies went to their pet play – the driving maul after the lineout close-out. After a desperation-fuelled stacks on, Folau Fainga’a got up last with the footy.

The rain increased. With Lolesio off, it fell to White to take the conversion. He’d miss – at the time, it felt critical.

The Brumbies counter-rucked well. When they forced another maul near the ‘Canes’ line, Fainga’a smelled a double. His teammates piled in, first winning a penalty, then more ball at the lineout.

Folau Fainga’a of the Brumbies celebrates with his team mates after scoring a try. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Instead, they went to the backs, where Irae Simone beat Barrett to score. Brumbies by one.

Barrett kicked another long-range pot. Franks came back on. Lolesio did, too. It took until the 37th minute of a game in the rain, for the first scrum of the night.

Ardie Savea went forward from a free kick. Then Moorby hit a hole where Ikitau likely would have been and scored. Barrett hit the post and was collected by Wright, who’d run out for the charge down and slid in like a baseball player taking out second base.

After all that, at half-time it was 22-15 for the Canes.

The rain got heavier still in the second half. Dane Coles started to run; Sio came on. White kicked long; Brumbies forwards advanced. The result, a penalty you mightn’t have seen in a normal round game.

Barrett hit the post. And the home fans thought: turning point! Seven point game! Come on, Balboa!

White came off with 25 minutes to play. So did Barrett, though he didn’t want to. Perenara stayed on.

The Brumbies emptied their bench. Lolesio got them within four points with a nerveless kick. Dan McKellar shook his head in disbelief – he wanted a lineout.

When Perenara came off, it was finally time for the Canes to crack. Moorby shanked a kick out on the full, prompting the crowd to get the “Brum-bies!” chant going. Tom Banks scored to send them up as one.

And momentum flowed with the Brumbies like cold climate wines of the Murrumbateman.

Penalties went their way. Charge downs went their way. A yellow card went their way. And then there was a rolling maul. Wright – who had done precious little, it wasn’t a winger’s sort of game – scored in the corner.

Lolesio landed a beautiful goal from the paint. Brumbies by 10. And that was all she wrote.

“It was pretty crazy,” Lolesio said after the match.

“That’s finals footy, we knew it wasn’t going to be perfect. We just had to stick to our strengths and that’s what we did.

“Credit to the Hurricanes too, they were awesome and put a full 80-minute effort in.”

For the Brumbies, it means a date with the daunting Blues next week – but hey, at least they’re still in with a fighting chance. You can forget their three-match losing streak heading into the finals now, too – the Brums might just be back.