Dan McKellar’s rearranged Brumbies dismantle Waratahs
Brumbies coach Dan McKellar was proven right on a couple of fronts as his team defeated the Waratahs 38-11 in the Super Rugby AU match in Canberra.
Brumbies coach Dan McKellar was proven right on a couple of fronts when his radically rearranged side dismantled the Waratahs 38-11 in the Super Rugby AU match in Canberra to stretch their winning run against their arch-rivals to six straight.
Criticised for dropping the likes of Wallabies Tevita Kuridrani, Folau Fainga’a and Joe Powell among his many changes to his side, McKellar insisted that he had picked his team for one purpose only, to beat the Tahs, and that they did brilliantly, scoring six tries to one. It might have been threatening to snow for most of the night, but the Brumbies were red-hot in just about everything they did.
McKellar also came under fire for suggesting that the Waratahs considered themselves world-beaters after beating a Reds side that clearly was affected by the death of Jordan Petaia’s father and then following up with a win over the Western Force.
It’s doubtful that the NSW players actually considered themselves world-beaters but it did highlight how the Waratahs fans base and the Sydney media, who can be absolutely critical at times of their side, can also jump on the bandwagon – sometimes way too quickly. It will be intriguing to see how they respond to a defeat that well and truly put them in their place.
Indeed, the Brumbies win tonight puts them into the play-offs, almost certainly in No.1 position, while the Queensland Reds look very much like play-off certainties as well, But following their defeat tonight, the Tahs must defeat the Melbourne Rebels next weekend to have any hope – and even then they will have to hope that results go their way because they have the bye in the final round on September 4-5.
“The boys stepped up tonight,” insisted Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa. “The Tahs came out hard but it was a huge effort especially in the second half. A lot of the guys who came into the team had been performing and for them to step up tonight showed what great depth we have.”
The Tahs did come out hard and after only eight minutes their number eight Jack Dempsey surged for the line only to lose the ball in the act of scoring, with Pete Samu making his presence felt in defence. It would be his first really effective effort in the game but hardly his last, given that he himself scored a double after the interval, his second try a gravity-defying tiptoeing effort down the right-hand touchline. Even he thought he had dragged a boot into touch but the replays showed he was always in the field of play – albeit by a smidgen at best.
It was an appalling piece of officiating by the TMO to award the Brumbies their first try, with replays clearly showing that halfback Ryan Lonergan was in front of the kicker Bayley Kuenzle when he had chased down a grubber kick and scored in the 15th minute. How could he not be in front of the kicker, given that he had just passed him the ball?
There were no doubts about the Canberra side’s second try, with Kuenzle lobbing a cleverly-weighted kick out to the right wing where Andy Muirhead was able to score untouched, the Tahs having devoted all their resources to stopping the Brumbies’ feared lineout drive. It was a clever piece of misdirection from McKellar’s men and clearly one that had been working on during their bye.
Still, the Waratahs were hanging in there. Two Will Harrison penalty goals kept them in touch and when fullback Jack Maddocks fired out a long pass to hooker Tom Horton standing wide, giving him enough room to elude the tackle of Irae Simone and unleash to Dempsey, NSW looked to be right back in the contest just three minutes out from halftime. Certainly the scoreboard would have suggested so, with the Waratahs only one point behind at 12-11. What they weren’t to know was that they would be held scoreless in a second half utterly dominated by the Brumbies.
Current Wallabies halfback Nic White made his entry into the game in the 50th minute and barely three minutes later he made his first significant contribution, deciding that six tries out of 18 to the driving maul was enough for the moment and firing out a long flat pass to winger Tom Wright for a well-taken try in the corner.
Wright earned himself a slap over the wrists for patting NSW halfback Jake Gordon on the head after he scored but at 26-11 it effectively showed which team had the upper hand. And it would only get worse as Wright scored a double on the back of a Tom Horton overthrow at a NSW attacking lineout. Again, a long pass from Simone found the Tahs defence wanting out wide.
As ever, it was a combined team effort from the Brumbies which created the win but certainly Lachie McCaffrey, in his first start since 2019, made his presence felt at blindside flanker, while James Slipper yet again did such an effective job at loosehead that he surely will have been written into Dave Rennie’s PONI (Players of National Interest) list in something a bit more permanent than pencil.
It scarcely comes as a surprise that Michael Hooper was yet again the outstanding performer in a beaten NSW side. He does so much, so consistently, that the Tahs would be lost without him. Dempsey, too, tried hard but he is becoming a penalty-magnet with his overenthusiasm, while Harrison is going to need a more dominant forward pack in front of him if he is ever to realize his full potential.
More Coverage
‘We can coexist’: Carey backs Test role for rival gloveman
While Australia has always resisted picking two wicketkeepers, incumbent Test gloveman Alex Carey has backed his rival, Josh Inglis to keep his spot as a specialist batsman long-term.
Top 25: Who took the mark of the century?
There’s nothing like a high-flying grab in Australian rules. But who flew highest this century? Josh Barnes picks the greatest 25 marks of the last 25 years. HAVE YOUR SAY.