The ACT Brumbies ventured up north intent on breaking a frustrating hoodoo in Brisbane. They left like drowned rats but it was all worth it for Stephen Larkham’s men, as they kept pace with the Super Rugby leaders by defeating the Reds 52-24.
All week the Brumbies had spoken about ending their drought in Brisbane, where they hadn’t won since 2015.
But even though they conceded an early try, the moment Angus Blyth hit Corey Toole flush in the jaw with a reckless, needless hit after the Brumbies flyer belted the ball into the air in the eighth minute, the visitors never quite looked like they would be troubled. Pressure generally wins in rugby, especially with class sitting on the bench.
Blyth, who made his long-awaited return to the starting side after missing the opening five weeks of the competition, ultimately had his yellow card upgraded to red but the home side was fortunate it wasn’t a straight red card. But on a wet night in Brisbane, the toll of playing with 14 men for 20 minutes was always likely to be felt at some point.
You could see and hear the frustration oozing from under-siege coach Brad Thorn, who cut a frustrated figure at half-time after seeing his side lose their lead by conceding a rolling maul try in the second minute of injury time.
“Tell me about it mate, tell me about it. Far out,” he responded to Leicester-bound coach Dan McKellar, who asked him how he could fix those “coach-killing penalties” at half time.
“That was a tough one that red card to watch. You move forward. We’ve had that chat at half time,” Thorn added.
Brad Thorn once again lamented his side’s poor discipline against the Brumbies. Photo: Albert Perez/Getty Images
Unfortunately for Thorn the penalties added up and so did the Brumbies’ pressure, as the visitors pulled ahead by scoring 17 unanswered points to start the second half.
While Fraser McReight got one back for the Reds, another two tries to the Brumbies saw the visitors leave Brisbane with five vital competition points to temporarily move them into second spot.
“What we spoke about throughout the week, we knew that we had to be better than last week,” Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa said.
“We hadn’t won here since 2015, so we knew it was a hard place to play. We had to be at our best tonight, and I thought that we delivered.”
Tamati Tua scored a crucial second half try to seal the Brumbies win over the Reds at Suncorp Stadium, on April 07, 2023. Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
Tate McDermott, who was one of the Reds’ best and scored a super try midway through the first half when the home side were playing with 14 men, cut a forlorn figure.
“We all know what I’m thinking. But I’m not going to berate my team right now, we’ll leave that for Monday,” he said.
“It’s obviously disappointing, but we’ve got to keep on the grind. That first half I’m really proud of the effort. Like I said in the sheds, we’ve got to back that up if we want to be respected – and we didn’t do that.”
Jordan Petaia was once again one of the Reds’ best, as the winger showed confidence and class with every touch in the first half.
His brilliant solo run late in the first half, where he stepped back off his right-foot, toed ahead and barged over Andy Muirhead, was further evidence that the boy wonder was finally growing up.
Petaia’s run led to Tom Wright being shown a yellow card for hands in the ruck, with Ben O’Keeffe quite rightly sending the Brumbies fullback to the sin-bin for slowing the ball down.
But despite Lawson Creighton’s three points to give the home side a 17-14 lead after 38 minutes, the Reds’ inability to win the little moments led to the Brumbies getting a final crack before half time. They took it as Lachie Lonergan scored and the momentum was lost.
Creighton was reasonable in his first start of the year, but the No.10, who struggled last year after filling in for the injured James O’Connor, was thrown a short ball by starting against the powerful Brumbies.
Nic White was excellent during his 50-minute appearance while his halves partner Noah Lolesio, who was left out of Eddie Jones’ first Test squad, was also strong, particularly from the kicking tee.
The pair’s strong effort came despite a lineout that struggled at times, with Lonergan’s throw twice being pinged for not straight and another being picked off.
“If you look at the past games, they always come out hard and we knew that our game controllers had to be smart with the way we played tonight, especially with the weather,” Alaalatoa said. “I thought we were smart in those areas.
“We started a bit slow, which is something we will talk on for next week, but we came home strong and I thought our finishers were great.”
Reds hooker Matt Faessler opened the scoring in the fifth minute for the home side, but Blyth’s upgraded red card was a huge blow.
Tom Wright hit back soon after by scoring in the 14th minute.
Some brilliance from McDermott from a lineout saw the home side retake the lead, but some good hands from the Brumbies’ backline saw Ben O’Donnell score out wide after 31 minutes.
While the Reds clawed ahead following Wright’s yellow, three straight tries to the visitors, including a lovely chip from White that sat up beautifully for Len Ikitau, saw them charge ahead.
From that point, they were never going to be run down despite McReight’s best efforts.
The Reds now face a season-defining match against Moana Pasifika in Samoa, with Aaron Mauger’s side leading the Crusaders at half time before being run down.
“I mean it’s going to be an interesting fixture,” McDermott said. “I didn’t see the result today but at half time they were looking pretty good.
“We can’t afford to worry about other sides, we’ve got to fix up what’s going on in our own backyard and we’ll do that.”
It’s make or break time for Thorn’s Reds.
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