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Fines' late Brumbies try leaves Waratahs paying heavy price after dominating in Sydney

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

The Brumbies have broken NSW Waratahs’ hearts with a nail-biting 24-23 Super Rugby AU win over their arch-rivals in Sydney. The Waratahs looked set to claim their first victory in five outings against Australia’s 2018 and 2019 conference winners only to concede a try four minutes from full-time.

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Replacement half-back Issak Fines’ late match-winner extended the Brumbies’ winning streak to six matches over all Australian opposition, stretching back to a loss to the Queensland Reds in March last year.

It was also extremely cruel on Rob Penney’s rebuilding Waratahs, who dominated for much of the match on Saturday having been humbled 47-14 by the Brumbies in the very last game before Super Rugby was suspended in March because of coronavirus.

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The Tahs paid dearly for conceding two tries in three minutes just before half-time after opening up a 20-5 lead. Despite the defeat, classy young five-eighth Will Harrison and NSW’s new-look front row of returning Wallaby Tom Robertson, starting debutant Tom Horton and Harry Johnson-Holmes were the standouts.

Earmarked as potentially the Wallabies’ next No10, Harrison set up a beautiful try for winger James Ramm and slotted three penalties and two conversions for a 13-point personal haul.

His head-to-head tussle with fellow former Australian U20s star Noah Lolesio only lasted half an hour before Lolesio limped off with a hamstring injury. The Waratahs suffered a blow even before kick-off, with reserve prop Angus Bell ruled out after hurting his back in the warm-up.

It was a tough setback for the Brumbies, who only 15 minutes earlier lost Wallabies prop James Slipper after he failed a HIA. The visitors had a ready-made replacement in Test star Scott Sio, but it didn’t stop NSW’s new-look front row from dominating at scrum time.

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The Brumbies turned down a gift three points early, opting against taking a penalty goal attempt from right in front and the gamble paid off. Instead, Tom Cusack opened the scoring with a try in the fifth minute after Harrison spilt Lolesio’s crossfield bomb straight into the flanker’s arms.

Harrison atoned with two penalties to edge the Waratahs ahead 6-5 as the home team gained the ascendancy. Enjoying all the momentum and with the Brumbies down to 14 men after winger Andy Muirhead was yellow-carded for a deliberate offside trying to thwart an attacking raid, the Tahs extended their advantage when hooker Horton marked his starting debut with a five-pointer from the back of a driving maul.

Harrison’s inch-perfect kick for Ramm earned the Waratahs their second try and suddenly the underdogs had a 15-point buffer after 29 minutes.

The Brumbies’ predicament threatened to go from bad to worse when Lolesio departed but instead of losing their way, they clawed their way back into the contest with two tries in three minutes to hooker Folau Faingaa and flanker Robbie Valenti to trail by just three points at the break.

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NSW WARATAHS 23 (Horton, Ramm tries; Harrison 2 cons 3 pens) 

BRUMBIES 24 (Cusack, Fainga’a, Fines, Valetini tries; Kuenzle 2 cons)

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J
JW 47 minutes ago
Crusaders outlast fast starting Blues to reach another Super Rugby final

Yeah nar, but that’s kinda the thing, I don’t think the old approach was working either!


You might have it right though, leading up, in all rugby/competitions mean, to the last WC it did feel like there had been better discipline/less than the normal amount of cards. Well, at least a certain demographic of teams improved at least, but not so much NZ ones is my point.


I bet you also think going harsher would be the best way to go reducing head contact and the frequency of concussions?


I would hate to have your theory tested as it requires subjective thinking from the officials but..

AI Overview

In Super Rugby Pacific, a red card means the player is sent off for the rest of the match, but with a 20-minute red card, the team can replace the player after 20 minutes of playing with 14 men. If the foul play is deemed deliberate and with a high degree of danger, a full red card is issued, and the player cannot be replaced. A second yellow card also results in a 20-minute red card with a replacement allowed. 

is there to stop that from happening. The whole subjective thing is why we have 20min cards, and I worry that the same leniency that stopped them from red carding a player who ran 30 meters and still didn’t get his head low enough would stop them straight redn them too.


Back to the real topic though, right after that WC we saw those same angles getting red carded all over the show. So do some players actually have control over their actions enough to avoid head collisions (and didn’t gaf after the WC?), or was it pure luck or an imaginary period of good discipline?


So without a crystal ball to know the truth of it I think you’ll find it an immeasurably better product with 20m red cards, there just does not appear to be any appropriate amount of discipline added to the back end, the suspensions (likely controlled by WR), yet.

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