May 5 (Reuters) – The ACT Brumbies extended their lead in
the Super Rugby Australian conference by grinding out a 23-6
victory over the New South Wales Waratahs in Canberra on
Saturday.
Brumbies flyhalf Christian Lealiifano slotted 13 points from
three penalties and conversions of tries by winger George
Speight and centre Andrew Smith either side of halftime.
The Brumbies moved to 35 points on the table, nine ahead of
the Waratahs (26), who are now ninth overall and in danger of
missing out on the top six playoffs.
Each of the three conference winners advance automatically
with the three teams with the next best overall records also
qualifying.
“We spoke about getting our spacing right and being really
aggressive off the line and we did that well in patches,” said
Brumbies captain Ben Mowen. “But to keep them tryless, I thought
the scrambling (defence) was the best thing.”
The match proved a tight struggle characterised by
bone-shaking collisions in the tackle, with Waratahs hooker
Tatafu Polota-Nau twice lying prone on the ground after heavy
knocks. The second forced him off before halftime.
Such was the atttritional nature of the match that when the
halftime hooter sounded, the only points had come from two
penalties apiece to Lealiifano and Waratahs’ scrumhalf Brendan
McKibbin.
The Brumbies, however, who had made more effective use of
their possession kept the ball alive after the hooter had
sounded and Speight crossed after 11 phases to give them a 13-6
lead at the break after Lealiifano converted.
The Brumbies again took advantage of the Waratahs’ lapse in
concentration shortly after the break when Smith crashed over
and with Lealiifano’s conversion the home side took a 20-6 lead.
Continued…
