SYDNEY (Reuters) – The ACT Brumbies reignited their Super Rugby Pacific campaign with a 27-19 victory over the Wellington Hurricanes on Saturday to hand the competition leaders a first loss in nine matches this season.
The Hurricanes were caught cold as the Brumbies played some breathtaking rugby to score tries through flyhalf Noah Lolesio, centre Tamati Tua and winger Ollie Sapsford and take a 24-5 lead after 27 minutes at Canberra Stadium.
The New Zealanders had two tries from prop Xavier Numia in the first half and a third from All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett six minutes into the second half to cut the lead to eight points at 27-19.
The Brumbies, however, muscled up to defy the resurgent Hurricanes over the remaining 34 minutes and ensure they would welcome back skipper Allan Alaalatoa from injury with a statement victory.
“It was awesome, really special to be out there with the boys,” said Wallabies prop Alaalatoa, who had not played since injuring his Achilles tendon against the All Blacks last July.
“For the boys to deliver a quality performance like that really topped things off.”
The victory kept the Brumbies, who suffered a 46-7 loss at the Blues last week, third in the standings on 31 points ahead of the Waikato Chiefs, who beat the New South Wales Waratahs 38-22 on Friday to move to 28.
The Hurricanes still top the standings despite losing their perfect record but the Blues could join them on 37 points with a bonus point win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane later on Saturday.
“Pretty disappointing,” said fullback Ruben Love. “One thing that’s on my mind at the moment is has it affected our egos in terms of losing our streak or is it a learning curve for us?
“Starting like that and losing those early tries, we were chasing it from the get-go.”
The Chiefs, runners-up last year, were also looking to get back to winning ways after losing to the Hurricanes last time out, and they delivered with a convincing win at the Sydney Football Stadium.
The Waratahs grabbed an early 12-0 lead but the Chiefs hit back with scores from Emoni Narawa, Cortez Ratima and Wallace Sititi in a 13-minute try blitz after the break to pull clear of the home side.
The Canterbury Crusaders, champions for the last seven seasons, had earlier given the high-flying Melbourne Rebels a wake-up call and sounded a warning to the rest of the competition that their early season woes may be behind them.
The big red machine monstered the Rebels scrum and ran in six tries in Christchurch to secure only their second win of the season with a 39-0 shutout.
Winger Taniela Rakuro scored two tries as Fijian Drua once again proved a cut above in Lautoka on Saturday, beating Moana Pasifika 24-17 to remain in seventh place in the standings with a three-point cushion over their fellow 2022 expansion team.
The Otago Highlanders will battle it out with Western Force later on Saturday to decide which team sits at the bottom of the standings after three quarters of the regular season.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Tom Hogue)
Source Agencies
