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SYDNEY - A Stirling Mortlock conversion in injury time saw the Brumbies snatch an 18-16 Super 14 rugby win over a desperately unlucky Crusaders in Canberra last night.
The Wallabies veteran coolly slotted the conversion from a Mark Gerrard try with seconds remaining on the lock to deny an undermanned Crusaders whose watertight defence held for 79 minutes.
The Brumbies hammered away at the visitors' line in the final 10 minutes but it looked like they'd held on when Clyde Rathbone was pulled down by three Crusaders tacklers just short.
But the hosts shifted the ball right and Gerrard jinked over out wide through two defenders, leaving Mortlock to do the rest.
It was the nerveless Brumbies' second last-gasp victory in as many weeks after they denied the Highlanders 33-31 in Dunedin a week ago.
For the defending champions, missing injured key man Richie McCaw, Brad Thorn and Leon MacDonald, it was their first defeat of 2009 after a hard-fought 19-13 win over the Chiefs.
They only had scraps of possession but defended magnificently, with their two tries coming from an intercept and a chargedown.
The Crusaders arrived in Canberra with the rare underdogs tag, missing the combined 146 test caps of McCaw (concussion), Thorn (heel) and MacDonald (shoulder).
In comparison the hosts - who'd won their previous three home matches against the Crusaders - were at full strength.
But the Crusaders deserved their 11-8 halftime lead playing into the wind as they rushed up and defended stoutly, scrummaged powerfully and took their few chances.
The Crusaders scrum flexed its muscle early on when it shoved and twisted the Brumbies on their feed to earn the turnover.
After Colin Slade and Mark Gerrard traded penalties, a rare moment of madness from the Brumbies' test flanker George Smith gave the visitors their first try in the 18th minute.
Smith gathered a loose ball on halfway but blindly offered a back-flip pass which Crusaders centre Casey Laulala gratefully accepted to race 50m. It was Laulala's third try in barely 100 minutes of Super 14 in 2009.
The Brumbies had to settle for kicking to the corners when they couldn't pierce the defence, but the Crusaders' lineout was equal to the task. Flanker George Whitelock, in for McCaw, was a notable presence alongside stand-in skipper Keiran Read as the visitors forced several first half turnovers.
But after sustained pressure, Smith finally found a gaping hole one-off a ruck and sent Brumbies first five-eighth Christian Leali'ifano on a 20m dash to equalise.
The Crusaders also lost their All Blacks hooker Corey Flynn to injury late in the half, with draft player Jason Macdonald joining the fray.
A penalty to replacement goalkicker Stephen Brett with a minute left in the half gave the Crusaders a three-point lead at the break.
The Crusaders' heavy defence continued to frustrate the Brumbies in the third quarter and, a minute after Mortlock levelled the scores with a long-range penalty, an error saw the visitors hit back.
Leali'ifano's kick 30m from his own line was charged by Slade who was pulled down just short, but the Crusaders shifted it left and lock Ross Filipo crossed in the corner.
Brett missed the conversion but the Crusaders led 16-11 with 20 minutes left.
Scores: Brumbies 18 (Christian Leali'ifano, Mark Gerrard tries; Stirling Mortlock con, pen; Gerrard pen) Crusaders 16 (Casey Laulala, Ross Filipo tries; Colin Slade pen, Stephen Brett pen). Halftime: Crusaders 11-8.
- NZPA
