The 60-minute period that sunk the fast-starting Brumbies
The Brumbies will lament the fact that after scoring the opening try of the game in the third minute of their Super Rugby Pacific semi-final showdown with the Blues on Saturday night, they failed to build from the early success and didn’t register any further points until late in the third quarter.
From their first scrum-feed of the game 10 metres inside Blues territory, Brumbies inside centre Irae Simone burst onto the pass from Nic White, brushed aside the tackle of Stephen Perofeta and skipped around Beauden Barrett to grab an easy-as-they-come five-pointer to kick off the match.
From that point on, however, the Blues took hold of the game and after registering back-to-back penalties, managed two tries to round out the first half after some weak defence from the visiting side. When the Brumbies finally started to get their rolling maul functioning in the second half, they were staring down the barrel of a 20-7 scoreline and despite finishing the game as the stronger side, simply ran out of time to nab a victory from the jaws of defeat, ultimately succumbing 20-19.
Unsurprisingly, while Brumbies coach Dan McKellar was pleased with his side’s fight back in the second spell, he suggested that you couldn’t give a side as good as the Blues such a big points start before warming into the match.
“20-7 down, we were probably a little bit rattled, to be honest, at halftime, but we feel we’ve got the best finishing group in the competition and again they showed that tonight, they were outstanding,” he said following the loss.
“It took us 50 minutes to get going. [We] scored that easy try, had a crack at a maul that would’ve put us out 14-3 (but were eventually held up over the line).
“[We] managed to get out way back into the game off the back of some field position and dominance there with territory. But at the end of the day, we just weren’t quite good enough.”
In last weekend’s fixture with the Hurricanes, the Brumbies had to bounce back from a 10-point halftime deficit, eventually grinding out a 35-25 win. It was on the back of some strong performances off the pine that the Brumbies again found their way back into the game against the Blues, with hooker Lachlan Lonergan, lock Nick Frost and back-rower Luke Reimer all impressing. McKellar was proud of the effort shown from his charges, given the mammoth task they faced at halftime to try and force their way back into the game, but also acknowledged that his side needed to be on the ball from earlier in the piece.
“You’re very proud of the courage and tenacity of the group and the resilience of the group,” he said. “We saw that last week as well and it’s a big part of our culture and environment: resilience. You can talk about it but you’ve got to show it.
“The learnings out of a game like tonight, you can’t wait, you can’t have 40 minutes to get a little prod … You need to capitalise and have that belief and take those opportunities early.
“When you’ve got (Beauden) Barrett, (Roger) Tuivasa-Sheck, Rieko (Ioane), others there, (Stephen) Perofeta’s been outstanding, (AJ) Lam, you can’t allow them to play off front-foot ball on a platter. You’ve got to go at them and win the collision and dominate the collision and force them to sit a little bit deeper in the pocket. That allows you to nullify their threats because those guys when they get going, they’re world-class.
“And then that 20-to-40-minute period in the first half there, discipline was poor and we just fell off a few too many tackles and they got their offload game going and they’re hard to contain.”
Despite coming so close to victory, the result will still go down as a disappointment for McKellar and his troops, especially given it was McKellar’s final match as head coach of the Brumbies before moving on to assist with the Wallabies.
Under McKellar’s tenure, the Brumbies have managed four finals appearances and one Super Rugby AU title in 2020 while rediscovering some of the starch that made them such a titan of Super Rugby in the formative days of the competition. As is always the goal, McKellar will be leaving the team in a better place than where he found them.
“We’ve come a long way,” he said. “I took over at the end of 2017 and had been there for four years as assistant coach and we were pretty structured. We still are very reliant on our maul and tonight we were relying on it again and we knew there’d be games where we’d have to be but I think we’ve developed our game and understand that we need to score more tries and play eyes up footy and not be so reliant on structure to break down opposition defences. There’s been growth in that.”
With the Brumbies the last remaining Australian side in the play-offs, it will be an all-Kiwi affair in Auckland next weekend when the Blues square off with the Crusaders, who were defensively resolute in a 20-7 win over the Chiefs on Friday night.
Comments on RugbyPass
This looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to comments