Super Rugby: ACT Brumbies beat Melbourne Rebels 31-23
If the referees can stop blowing their whistles so often, Australia’s domestic Super Rugby competition might actually turn out to be the silver lining the struggling code needs right now.
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If the referees can stop blowing their whistles so often, Australia’s domestic Super Rugby competition might actually turn out to be the silver lining the struggling code needs right now.
A five-team competition is a pretty hard sell at the best of times but these aren’t the best of times so Australia’s long-suffering fans need something to pin their hopes on and this might just fit the bill.
The two matches from the opening round have produced 112 points and 13 tries but the spectacle has been blighted by the horrendous penalty toll, with the whistle getting blown at an average of less than every three minutes.
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The Brumbies remain clear favourites to win the title after Saturday night’s 31-23 win over the Rebels in Canberra but it wasn’t the romp in the park everyone expected.
And after the Reds squeezed home to beat the Waratahs on Friday, nothing’s guaranteed and that could make for some compelling viewing.
The Brumbies did manage to pick up a bonus point by scoring five tries but the Rebels gave them an almighty scare, pulling to within a point with 10 minutes to go after destroying their scrum.
The Brumbies conceded six scrum penalties and had to turn to their mastery of the driving maul to get the job done.
“We started really well and came out of the gate fast but knowing the quality side the Rebels are, they came back really hard in the second half and really made it hard for us,” Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa said.
“I’m really pleased with the way we finished the game.
“(Our scrum) wasn’t where we need it to be and that’s definitely a work-on for us but when the opportunities came we really took them.”
Replacement Will Miller sealed victory when he scored off a lineout four minutes from the end after halfback Joe Powell darted over following another lineout maul in the first half and winger Andy Muirfield crossed untouched when the Brumbies fooled the Rebels with a deceptive set move off a throw.
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When hooker Folau Fainga‘a crossed just before the break and Tom Wright dived over after the restart to make it 24-6, the contest looked all over but two quick tries by Rebels hooker Jordan Uelese and the captain Dane Haylett-Petty set up the grandstand finish,
“The last four or five times we’ve played the Brumbies, it’s been a similar story in that they’ve got off to a fast start and we’ve come home late,” Haylett-Petty said.
“We just left ourselves a little bit too much to do at the end and that was really just off the back of ill discipline, letting them piggyback up the field and giving them exactly what they wanted, the ability to maul in our 22.”