Brumbies move clear at top of Aussie conference following 16-9 win over the Sharks in Canberra

THE Brumbies have won an arm wrestle with the Sharks after Sam Carter produced the match-winning five-pointer on a wet Canberra evening.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - MAY 10: Nic White of the Brumbies is tackled during the round 13 Super Rugby match between the Brumbies and the Sharks at Canberra Stadium on May 10, 2014 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

THE Brumbies graduated from the school of Jake White by downing his tryless Sharks 16-9 on Saturday night at a slippery Canberra Stadium.

The Brumbies had plenty to prove after White walked out on them last year to join the Sharks halfway through his four-year contract.

And prove it they did, man of the match Sam Carter crossing for the only try and match winner in the 65th minute.

The niggly top-of-the-table clash went down exactly as expected, in wet conditions, by two sides recently tutored by the former World Cup-winning Springboks coach.

The defence was rigid, the hits big, the breakdown scrappy and the kicks plenty.

Three players went off in the first half for blood or concussion concerns - however only Wallabies winger Joe Tomane failed to return, a cheekbone injury putting him in doubt for the Brumbies’ South African tour. News_Rich_Media: Catch all the highlights from GIO Stadium where the Brumbies take on the Sharks.

Both teams were desperate to play in the other side’s half, the match featuring more than 90 open-play kicks.

Sharks flyhalf Francois Steyn’s radar was off, missing three first-half penalty goal attempts, failing to find touch from a penalty and kicking out on the full twice from restarts.

His open-play kicking was better, constantly finding the ground to the left of fullback Jesse Mogg, which cut off the angle of his big left boot.

However, the Brumbies dominated the kicking duel in the second half, Mogg finding his rhythm and winger Robbie Coleman chasing everything down. News_Image_File: Both teams struggled to handle the slippery ball.

Lealiifano opened the scoring with an early penalty goal, while Steyn pushed two early attempts out wide before nailing one in the 14th minute.

Lealiifano knocked over a second three-pointer and then missed a third attempt, giving the Brumbies a 6-3 lead at halftime.

Both sides traded a penalty goal apiece after the break, before the Brumbies began to press with their territory advantage.

The try-scoring drought finally broke in the 65th minute when halfback Nic White put Carter through a gap and under the posts to extend the lead to 16-6.

Steyn narrowed the gap to seven points with eight minutes to go to earn the Sharks a losing bonus point, but they fell short of finishing off the comeback.

The outcome wasn’t enough to knock the Sharks off top spot, although the Brumbies closed the gap to two points in third place.

“It’s a hugely rewarding result,” Brumbies captain Ben Mowen said. “Any time you get a win against the Sharks is good, especially in the context of this year when they’ve been leading the competition.

“The boys had to dig deep, they were tough conditions but I thought we managed it well.”

The Sharks are now 1-1 on a four-match road trip to Australia and New Zealand and their stay in first place has begun to look shaky with matches remaining against the Crusaders and Blues.

“It’s not what we wanted and I think we missed a few kicks, even in the last few minutes we had a few opportunities to score but we just couldn’t,” Sharks captain Bismarck du Plessis said. “We have to really go back to the drawing board and really, really work hard before next weekend.”

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