The Brumbies beat the Crusaders in Canberra. Photo / Photosport
Crusaders 24
Brumbies 31
The Super Rugby Pacific campaign hasn’t gone to plan for the defending champion Crusaders.
That was again reflected in a 31-24 loss to the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday afternoon.
The Crusaders went behind by two tries in the opening 20 minutes, and despite trailing for most of the game, they drew level at 24-24 with five minutes to play.
But the Brumbies worked back into an attacking position and were awarded a penalty, with Noah Lolesio taking the shot to win the game. His attempt hit the post, the ball bounced into the in-goal area, and Crusaders lock Quinten Strange deliberately knocked the ball dead to prevent Brumbies halfback Harrison Goddard from having a play at it.
In union, that act is deemed as foul play and the Brumbies were awarded a penalty try with Strange shown a yellow card. The Crusaders couldn’t recover the restart that followed, and the Brumbies put the ball out of play to claim the win.
For the majority of the game, the Crusaders looked to be the team in control. They were able to build phases and exploit open spaces with ball in hand, and their scrum was destroying that of the Brumbies.
But for all the opportunities they created, too many were left unconverted. The Crusaders turned the ball over 16 times in the match to the Brumbies’ six. The hosts’ counterattack was sizzling, with fullback Tom Wright bagging a double in the first half with both tries coming on the counter.
“We gave ourselves a crack. In the first half, we created a lot of opportunities and probably just let ourselves down with individual errors across the board – myself included – and it cost us,” Crusaders captain Codie Taylor told Stan Sport.
“We let in 12 points there with pretty easy tries for them from turnover attack, and it’s just not good enough.”
“We knew we had to turn up physically and put these big men on the deck and I felt like we did that for most of the time. It was just when we had the ball, we created a lot of opportunities but let some slip. The Brumbies are a class team, they put you under pressure and that’s what they did.”
The loss was the 10th of the season for the Crusaders, who are likely just playing for pride in their final two games of the regular season as they host the Blues next week and Moana Pasifika in a fortnight.
The Brumbies got on top early in Canberra, with Lolesio finding Andy Muirhead in the 12th minute with a crossfield chip after an attempted lineout drive was halted.
The Brumbies muffed the ensuing restart but were able to clean up and after the Crusaders could bring in a clearing kick, the Brumbies attacked out wide and Wright crossed.
Fullback Johnny McNicholl got the Crusaders on the board after Brumbies second five-eighths Tamati Tua was sin-binned for a high tackle, but another counterattacking try to Wright just before halftime extended the lead.
The Crusaders fought back in the second half, with a long-range penalty from Chay Fihaki in the 75th minute levelling the score, but it wasn’t to be for the visitors.
Crusaders 24 (Johnny McNicholl, Sevu Reece, Noah Hotham tries; Fergus Burke 3 cons, Chay Fihaki pen)
Brumbies 31 (Tom Wright 2, Penalty Try, Andy Muirhead, Rob Valetini tries; Noah Lolesio 2 cons)
HT: 7-17
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
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