The ACT Brumbies missed a golden opportunity to stake their claim for a guaranteed finals berth when they suffered just their second loss of the Super Rugby season on Sunday.
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But if there’s one tiny glimmer of hope they can salvage out of the loss to the Canterbury Crusaders, it is that a last-minute decision to go for a penalty goal and secure a losing bonus point could prove instrumental in the race to the play-offs.
The Brumbies’ attacking high came crashing back to earth as the Crusaders strangled any momentum the home side had to clinch a 30-23 victory at Canberra Stadium. The performance was well below the lofty standards the top-of-the-table Brumbies set with a crushing win over the Western Force eight days earlier.
They dropped the ball, made elementary mistakes and lacked any rhythm as they botched a chance to move well clear of the Queensland Reds in the Australian conference.
As it stands the Brumbies are ahead of the Reds by two points. With a bye this weekend, they’ll move ahead by six points before the Reds play the Durban Sharks in Brisbane. And regardless of the Reds’ and Waikato Chiefs’ results, the Brumbies will remain at the top of the overall Super Rugby ladder going into their clash with the NSW Waratahs in Sydney on May18.
The Reds still have a bye as well, but also have to tour South Africa.
The Brumbies have beaten just two teams ranked in the top seven on the table, a statistic they need to change if they want to be in contention for the club’s third championship.
''It is disappointing, the thing that’s most disappointing is that we never gave ourselves a chance [against the Crusaders],’’ coach Jake White said.
‘‘We got a 10-0 start and we almost looked like we were waiting to see what happened ... when we got stuck in it was a bit late.
‘‘If you want to win the comp you have to beat the Crusaders and hopefully the lessons we learnt will bode us well if we get to play them again ... we were off.’’
White said the three teams the Brumbies had struggled against were the ones they didn’t play last year – the Southern Kings, the Crusaders and the Cape Town Stormers.
The Brumbies skipped out to a 10-0 lead when Matt Toomua intercepted a pass form Crusaders and All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter.
But they never reached the attacking heights of the previous week as the Crusaders’ impressive defence refused to budge and the Brumbies made simple errors when in attack – two of the Crusaders’ three tries came from turnovers in the Brumbies’ attacking 22 metres.
Andy Ellis, Zack Guildford and Israel Dagg got the tries for the Crusaders, while Carter scored 15points with the boot.
Trailing the Crusaders by 17points with just five minutes remaining, the Brumbies launched a spirited comeback.
Captain Ben Mowen scored a try to get them within 10 and then came the crucial moment.
The Brumbies were awarded a penalty 15 metres out from the try line with 90 seconds left.
Instead of going for an unlikely try, Mowen opted to give Christian Lealiifano a shot at goal to get the Brumbies within seven points and secure a bonus point for losing by seven points or less.
‘‘If we are going to try and push for this championship you have to be able to play teams like that and execute under huge pressure, so it’s a good lesson to have,’’ Mowen said. ‘‘The Crusaders played the way we want to play ... we’re after that complete performance.
‘‘You have to be able to manage [the bonus point] situation to make sure they don’t sting you, we don’t want to rely on other sides [to make the finals] ... we needed to drag something out [of this game] and every point is crucial on the ladder.’’
CANTERBURY CRUSADERS 30 (Andy Ellis, Zack Guildford, Israel Dagg tries; Dan Carter 3 penalties, 3 conversions) bt ACT BRUMBIES 23 (Matt Toomua, Ben Mowen tries; Christian Lealiifano 3 penalties; Matt Toomua, Christian Lealiifano conversions) at Canberra Stadium yesterday. Referee Craig Joubert. Crowd: 16,544.
