Rugby: Highlanders' luck runs out in Canberra

Brumbies' Henry Speight fends off a tackle. Photo / Getty Images

Brumbies 33 Highlanders 26

It had to happen. The Highlanders, undefeated masters of winning ugly so far this season, lost ugly.

They had most of the possession, most of the territory and most of the initiative to begin with but, for the first time this year, the rub of the green turned the same bilious shade of green as those horrible Highlanders' jerseys.

First five-eighths Colin Slade, so unlucky with injuries, copped another stretcher job with a suspected broken ankle in the second half last night - right in the middle of a vastly improved performance and a close to perfect kicking game.

Before that, one of the offloads the Highlanders have popped up with aplomb in previous matches went into the hands of rookie Brumbies winger Joe Tomane. He galloped 75m like the one of the horses his team is named after, scoring under the bar. The men from the deep south hitched up their shorts, adjusted their mouthguards and set about the task of putting it right.

They battered away at the Brumbies, whose willing defence was beginning to creak, but there was a sense this was not to be their night when livewire halfback Aaron Smith sparked what looked like a try-scoring movement. However, the raid broke down when pick-and-go lock Cullum Retallick ran into his own man, England international loose forward James Haskell.

Then the side that has profited so well from turnovers so far this year gifted the Brumbies one. Starved of possession, the Brumbies grabbed the ball and the opportunity. Centre Andrew Smith cut through to send Tomane sprinting for the line again. Add to that an unlucky penalty against Aaron Smith for what was judged an early tackle to snuff out a Brumbies raid and they were 17-3 down.

However, this Highlanders outfit has true grit. They worked away at the Brumbies again before a Slade inside pass sent winger Hosea Gear powering through a gap - and there was the little firecracker Smith spearing at the line under a head-high shot to make the halftime score 20-13, following another Christian Lealiifano penalty.

The Brumbies, under former Springbok coach Jake White, are showing real signs of youthful promise. The Highlanders' success has been built around a dominating influence at the breakdown but in Brumbies openside flanker Michael Hooper, they met a ball grubber whose work at the breakdown inspired his counter-ruckers - often frustrating the Highlanders and making the turnovers flow. It was his try - after a break by Wallaby second five-eighths Pat McCabe - that sealed this game after some untypically sloppy work at the breakdown by the Highlanders allowed Hooper to pinch the ball and scuttle to the line.

Andrew Smith was a threat with the ball in hand, as was Tomane and first five Lealiifano's run was instrumental in Tomane's second try. They defended stoutly and drove strongly at ruck and maul, led by captain and No8 Ben Mowen - but the Highlanders will know they should not have lost this one. They showed their strength when second five Shaun Treeby, showing his, powered through a tackle and - finding himself not held - got up and cantered under the bar to bring the scores level at 23-all. More penalties took matters to 26-all before Hooper's decisive try made it 33-26.

There were still 15 minutes left - tailor-made for a Highlanders comeback - but they couldn't re-work the script (go behind at halftime, come back strongly to lead, and then hold on grimly to win) for this Super Rugby episode.

Brumbies 33 (J. Tomane 2 M. Hooper tries; C. Lealiifano 3 con, 4 pen), Highlanders 26 (A. Smith, S. Treeby tries; C. Slade 2 con, 2 pen, drop goal; C. Noakes pen). Halftime: 20-13