Why Wallabies will celebrate Brumbies’ end to 12-year Blues drought in Super Rugby thriller
The ACT Brumbies have given themselves - and by extension the Wallabies - a massive confidence boost ahead of the upcoming British and Irish Lions series after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Super Rugby for years.
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The ACT Brumbies have given themselves - and by extension the Wallabies - a massive confidence boost ahead of the upcoming British and Irish Lions series after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Super Rugby for years.
Breaking a 12-year drought at Auckland’s Eden Park, the Brumbies overcame a 10-point deficit to defeat the Blues 21-20 in a Friday night thriller, taking the lead for the only time in the contest with less than a minute left on the clock.
After the dominant Brumbies scrum won a late penalty 30 metres out from the posts, replacement halfback Ryan Lonergan stepped forward and calmly slotted over the match winning kick.
“It was pretty nerve wracking to be honest,” Lonergan said.
“The least I could do was kick it over at the end.
“It means a lot to be able to finish off a little tour like this.
“We feel like we’re building something special even though it hasn’t been an ideal start to the season.”
Lonergan nails the kick with a minute to go and the Brumbies win it! 🤯
— Stan Sport Rugby (@StanSportRugby) March 7, 2025
↳ Super Rugby Pacific. Every Match. Ad-free. Live & On Demand.#StanSportAU#SuperRugbyPacificpic.twitter.com/QMun5gL81t
Yeah, we did that 🤯#SuperRugbyPacificpic.twitter.com/p1qwREvtLW
— ACT Brumbies (@BrumbiesRugby) March 7, 2025
The last time the Brumbies won at the fortress of New Zealand rugby was in 2013 and they looked to be heading towards another loss after initially stumbling out of the blocks.
Australian teams are so used to getting flogged at Eden Park that few gave the Brumbies much hope after they went into the match off the back of two close losses and concerns about their defence.
The Brumbies have always prided themselves on punching above their weight and never hoisting the white flag but there is no way of sugarcoating the glaring problems with the Brumbies’ lapses when they don’t have the ball.
In their first four matches this season, the Brumbies have conceded 146 points at an average of 36.5 per game.
Despite being able to defend their lines for long periods, they have also given up 19 tries including three against the Blues, but never threw in the towel, scoring 11 unanswered points in the second half.
“We knew it was going to take a special effort from everyone,” Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa said.
“The boys had to dig deep. It took 80 minutes but I’m really proud of the effort.
“We’ve been leaking a few points over the last few games so that was a massive improvement for us.”
The defending Super Rugby champions, the Blues got off to a flyer when All Black Beauden Barrett, starting at five-eighth for the first time this season, sliced through the line to score the opening try.
The Brumbies hit back with a close-range try from Alaalatoa but gave up two quick tries to Angus Ta’avao then Rieko Ioane to trail 20-10 at halftime.
The Blues struggled for direction after Barrett did not return to the field because of a hand injury and the Brumbies capitalised.
Declan Meredith finished off a try in the corner to cut the deficit to two points with half an hour left on the clock before Lonergan held his nerve to kick the decisive goal at the death.
“Tonight will give us a lot of confidence,” said veteran Brumbies’ prop James Slipper, who made his 18th Super Rugby appearance. “We’ve obviously had a bit of a tough start to the season.
“Looking at the Brumbies the last couple of weeks, we’ve probably been one of the worst defensive teams so we did well to hold out a Blues team that scores a lot of points. We will enjoy this one.”
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Originally published as Why Wallabies will celebrate Brumbies’ end to 12-year Blues drought in Super Rugby thriller
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