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Brumbies bounce back dramatically to hand Hurricanes first loss of season
It was a hungry Brumbies outfit that greeted the undefeated Hurricanes in Canberra, clearly out with a point to prove after a record loss to the Blues in their last outing.
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Tamati Tua was awarded Man of the Match for his barnstorming performance but there were no shortage of superb outings for the hosts who subjected the Hurricanes to their first loss of the season.
Having dominated the collision area throughout the season, the Hurricanes found themselves back-pedalling on their opening defensive stand of the game.
The front foot ball for the Brumbies was capitalised on when they were awarded a penalty and opted for a lineout drive, which the Hurricanes managed to defuse after a mammoth wrestle. The defensive effort had drawn in enough players though for Noah Lolesio to be unmarked on the wing and one pass was all that was needed for the playmaker to score the opening points of the game.
The Hurricanes wouldn’t entertain anything other than a strong territory advantage after that opening try, quickly pressing into the Brumbies’ 22 and launching multiple driving maul attempts until a fumbled delivery from TJ Perenara caught the defence off guard and allowed Xavier Numia to find the ball and dive over the line.
The scoreboard would continue to tick over moments later when Tamati Tua looked up and saw a hooker and a lock in front of him, accelerating through the minuscule gap and shrugging the defenders before burning TJ Perenara to score the third try of the game in the 15th minute.
Tua was making metres again shortly after play resumed, pushing play back into the Hurricanes’ half off the restart.
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That field position allowed the Brumbies to maintain their ambition and the hosts continued to win the collision area, making metres and recycling the ball swiftly, all putting immense pressure on the Hurricanes’ defence.
That pressure resulted in another break and another try, this time to Ollie Sapsford. The winger found space on the outside as if the Brumbies were playing with a one-man advantage, with the Brumbies finding plenty of reward against an uncharacteristically shaky Hurricanes defence.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when hooker James O’Reilly went down with a head knock, making way for young Raymond Tuputupu and causing further concern after the team’s premier hooker, Asafo Aumua, went down with an MCL injury last weekend.
Charlie Cale made a nuisance of himself defending the Hurricanes’ lineout but the 21-year-old hooker found his target the second time around and the Wellingtonians drove closer and closer to the line with every phase. Xavier Numia again popped up at the right place and right time, opportunistically diving over the line through a gap beside the ruck.
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The Brumbies had managed to avoid the wrath of the Hurricanes’ scrum until the 35th minute, getting the ball out to Cale swiftly to keep play moving. But, it was a massive task for Allan Alaalatoa in his return from injury to fight the power of Xavier Numia, and the young gun eventually got the better of the veteran Wallaby to earn a penalty and win more strong field position for his team.
The back and forth continued and while both teams continued to prove dangerous, the score would remain 24-12 at halftime.
An offside penalty handed the Brumbies a chance to keep the scoreboard rolling to start the second half, with Noah Lolesio obliging with the three points.
A mercurial run from Ruben Love on a kick return ignited the Hurricanes’ counter-attack just a minute later, with the ball then finding Salesi Rayasi who hit the line with pace and delivered a determined offload which allowed his team to realize the overlap created and put Jordie Barrett over the line untouched.
Alaalatoa was replaced at halftime but the Hurricanes’ scrum dominance continued. Meanwhile, Tom Wright was igniting play with pirouettes and pace before his opposite Ruben Love re-entered the action and caused some havoc of his own.
The scores remained locked at 27-19 as the two sides went at it, exchanging blows and defusing attacking threats.
The pressure the Brumbies continued to apply forced the Hurricanes into some errors that hadn’t been seen much so far in 2024, and killed momentum before the ‘Canes could capitalize on it.
The scrum was far less dominant once the reserve unit took the field for the Hurricanes and the Brumbies made huge plays at lineout time, securing the win with another steal late. Final score: 27-19.
Comments on RugbyPass
This is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
6 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
1 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
86 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
2 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
3 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
86 Go to commentsHas this guy been dope tested? Sounds like a case of “roid rage”.
1 Go to commentsI would like to see him say that to Eben face to face in a dark alley.
86 Go to commentsYep, lost in translation. There are arrogant people in Ireland, yes. As there are arrogant people in every country, but as a nation, arrogance is not a general characteristic in Ireland. There has not really had a strong representation for any global sport over the years, and hence arrogance is not endemic to Irish people in this regard. I seriously doubt that was said or meant by 12 or 13 players. If it was said, it would have been said in jest and to pay Etzebeth and the Springboks a compliment for how hard fought the game was.
86 Go to commentsOne of the few Bidwell articles I can agree with. If coaches played their players through niggles and consistently played them 80mins then you could make an argument for resting protocols - they obviously don’t and are incredibly responsible, let’s give up the resting nonsense and let the boys play.
4 Go to commentsDaniel Gallan, please for the love of all that is holy, stop writing about rugby. Or at the very least stop telling people you are South African.
21 Go to comments