Brumbies player ratings vs Blues | Super Rugby Pacific
The Brumbies came within a charged-down drop goal of causing a massive upset at Eden Park on Saturday night, narrowly losing out 19-20 against the Blues in the second Super Rugby Pacific semi-final.
The away team certainly didn’t have history on their side heading into the contest, with no Australian team recording a play-off win in 19 attempts over two and a half decades. Still, they came out of the blocks firing, scoring the first try of the match throughout inside centre Irae Simone.
The Blues took control of the game from that point on, however, scoring the next 20 points to give the Brumbies a massive task heading into the second half. The Australians rose to the challenge, with some exceptional performances off the bench, and fought their way back to within one point with time almost up on the clock.
In what was effectively the last play of the game, Brumbies flyhalf Noah Lolesio attempted a drop goal from 40 metres out but Blues prop Ofa Tuungafasi managed to block the kick, ending the Brumbies’ hopes of an historic victory.
Who were the best performers for the Brumbies in defeat?
1. James Slipper 4/10
Pinged three times in the first half for illegal scrummaging and once early in the second spell for sealing off the ruck – although any number of Brumbies could have been penalised. Off in 47th minute.
2. Folau Fainga’a – 6
Came close to scoring after breaking away from a rolling maul with the Brumbies’ first attacking foray into the Blues 22. Lots of endeavour but struggled to generate much go-forward with the ball in hand. Hit his target on five of his six lineout deliveries. Off in 53rd minute.
3. Allan Alaalatoa – 5
Off in 68th minute. The Brumbies campatain held up his side of the scrum well and kept his team motivated heading into the late stages of the match.
4. Darcy Swain – 4
Strong at the lineout, taking all five of his deliveries, but let his side down with some awful discipline and less than accurate defence. Penalised three times in the first half, once for not rolling away after the tackle, once for playing Josh Goodhue in the air at the lineout, and once for collapsing a maul. Copped another costly one with seven minutes remaining for getting offside at the breakdown when the Blues were camped on their goal line.
5. Cadeyrn Neville – 4
Had little to show for his time on the field. A poor pick-and-go attempt on the Blues’ try line resulted in the ball being held up and otherwise faded into the background. Off in 47th minute.
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6. Tom Hooper – N/A
Injured his shoulder with his first carry and then dropped the ball the next time it came his way. Unsurprisingly left the field immediately after, in the 17th minute.
7. Pete Samu – 6.5
The Brumbies’ top tackler with 10 to his name. Rarely had momentum on his side when hitting the ball up but always took at least a couple of tacklers to bring him to ground. Came close to grabbing a late try with a good run up the guts.
8. Rob Valetini – 4
It was a somewhat disappointing return to the field for Valetini with the big number 8 relatively anonymous. Touched the ball just four times and made six tackles before departing at half time.
9. Nic White – 5
It wasn’t a vintage game from the senior halfback with some scrappy play throughout. Caught napping twice at the breakdown in the first half. In both instances, he needed more support from his forwards, but still could have gotten the ball away if he’d hustled. Might have spent too much time chatting with the referee. Off in 53rd minute.
10. Noah Lolesio – 3.5
Looked good when he challenged the line but his skills regularly let him down. Couldn’t quite take an early high ball but somehow it worked out in the Brumbies’ favour, with the Blues knocking it on while trying to reclaim the bouncing ball. Missed three tackles in the lead-up to the Blues’ first try, on Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett and Hoskins Sotutu, and then two in the build-up to the Blues’ second, on Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Barrett again. Was guilty of some inaccurate kicking early in the second half and threw some dicey passes.
11. Andy Muirhead – 7
Strong under the high ball, both on attack and defence. Made one great scything run in the second half. Jumped in to assist with lineout mauls.
12. Irae Simone – 7
Made an exceptional break from the first scrum, going straight throughout Stephen Perofeta, then managed to get on the outside of Beauden Barrett and dive over the line for a brilliant individual effort. Threw one inaccurate pass when the Brumbies were hot on attack. Added his weight to the late-game lineout drives.
13. Ollie Sapsford – 4
A good chase following the kick-off helped earned the Brumbies possession back after conceding their second try. Couldn’t bring down AJ Lam in the tackle at the beginning of the final quarter, with the Blues almost scoring from the ensuing momentum. Off in 68th minute.
14. Tom Wright – 6
Held up with his first carry of the ball. Stepped his way around a few tackles in the second half and was then dumped on his head. Came within inches of grabbing a try in the 58th minute after busting through the line but couldn’t get the ball down. Returned the favour minutes later, however, when he somehow managed to keep Barrett from grabbing a try of his own.
15. Tom Banks – 5
Generally safe at the back. Almost missed touch with his first penalty but Lam couldn’t quite rein the ball in. Ran a nice support line off Muirhead to put the Blues under pressure but could have looked to give the ball to his outside man, instead being bundled into touch.
Reserves:
16. Lachlan Lonergan – 8.5
On in 53rd minute. Scored twice from driving mauls – his sixth and seventh meat pies of the season – and ran with vigour. Added massive impact off the bench and will have done his Wallabies chances a world of good.
17. Scott Sio – 4
On in 47th minute. Wasn’t any luckier at scrum time than the man he replaced (except when the Blues scrum engaged early).
18. Sosefo Kautai – 6
On in 68th minute. Grabbed a breakdown penalty with his first act off the bench.
19. Nick Frost – 6.5
On in 47th minute. Became the key man at the lineout when he joined the match and was safe as houses when the Brumbies were bombarding the Blues with driving mauls. Grabbed an important lineout steal with just six minutes left to play.
20. Luke Reimer – 8
On in 17th minute. Grabbed three breakdown turnovers and powered through plenty of work on both sides of the ball, finishing as the Brumbies’ second biggest tackler. Dropped the ball clean when the Brumbies were hot on attack at the 30-minute mark and was then gassed on the outside by Ioane when the Blues broke out from their own half (but who could blame him?) but was still one of the biggest performers on the night.
21. Jahrome Brown
On in 40th minute. Carried well and added a bit more impetus than Valetini.
22. Ryan Longergan – 5
On in 53rd minute. Passing and kicking – the bread and butter of a halfback’s repertoire – wasn’t quite on the mark.
23. Hudson Creighton – N/A
On in 68th minute.
Comments on RugbyPass
Well where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to comments