BEST PLAYERS
3 Scott Sio
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2 Henry Speight
1 Nic White
FRANTIC FINALE
With less than two minutes remaining in the match and the Brumbies leading by seven points, the Bulls stole possession in the middle of the field to give themselves a chance to snatch a draw at Canberra Stadium. After dominating the second half, the Bulls sent the ball wide and JJ Engelbrecht sprinted down the sideline to score his team’s second try. It was then left to recalled flyhalf Morne Steyn to nail a sideline conversion to level the score. From the kick-off, the Bulls had the ball but George Smith forced a penalty at the breakdown to give the Brumbies a shot at goal right in front of the posts. Christian Lealiifano slotted it to win the match.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
The Brumbies were well below their best against the Bulls. They made elementary mistakes in attack and struggled to gain any momentum in the second half. The good news is they won the game. But having started the season in superb form, they are now a hunted team and need to lift everything to a new level to ensure they continue their rise. In the past two weeks, their opposition has refused to run the ball from inside their own half. Much of the Brumbies’ early-season success has been built on taking advantage of their opponents making mistakes and gifting the ACT attacking chances. The Brumbies take calculated risks when they’ve got the ball. But they might need to be a bit more expansive to break games open.
SCRUM DOMINATION
Young prop Scott Sio is pushing his claims to be a bolter for the Wallabies squad with another impressive performance in the Brumbies’ front row. The Brumbies’ scrum demolished the Bulls on multiple occasions and one of the visiting front-rowers was sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements. Sio has forced his way into the regular rotation after not being a part of the 22-man game-day squad at the start of the year. He replaced Ben Alexander in the starting side last night, with the Wallabies prop struggling with illness all week. Sio didn’t disappoint. He’s mobile and technically adept and if he continues to impress he’ll be on the Wallabies radar.
TWO TIRED TEAMS
With the Brumbies returning from South Africa and the Bulls at the end of a four-week tour, it was no surprise the players looked exhausted at times. The first half was a kicking duel with the Brumbies going to the air 17 times and the Bulls launching it high 18 times. The Brumbies have made their mark this season with some enterprising attacking play. However, they got caught being too predictable at times with a runner one pass off the ruck. The first half drifted along until Matt Toomua put on a superb inside ball for Robbie Coleman who scored the first try of the match.
HALF-TIME DEFICIT
The Bulls had never overcome a half-time deficit of more than nine points in Super Rugby history. They trailed by 11 points at the break against the Brumbies and looked set to break their hoodoo as they dominated possession and field position in the second half. They scored the first try of the half through winger Jurgen Visser and had another disallowed but still managed to get within one point. But some late penalties to Christian Lealiifano iced the result for the Brumbies and ensured the Bulls were still searching for a record second-half comeback.
SCOREBOARD
ACT BRUMBIES 23 (Robbie Coleman try; Christian Lealiifano 6 penalties) bt PRETORIA BULLS 20 (Jurgen Visser, JJ Engelbrecht tries; Morne Steyn 2 penalties, 2 conversions) at Canberra Stadium last night. Referee: Jonathon White. Crowd: 13,735.