Brumbies end nightmare tour on high

[Darren]

The ACT Brumbies ended a disastrous Super 14 tour of South Africa overnight by beating the Cheetahs 40-27 and earning a bonus point.

Brumbies utility forward Shawn Mackay was hospitalised last week and induced into a coma to undergo a spinal operation after being struck by a car during a night out in Durban. While the team had lost to the Lions and Sharks in its previous tour matches.

But the Brumbies scored three converted tries inside the first 17 minutes of the second half at Vodacom Park to stay in the hunt for a semifinal spot. The visitors have 18 points, while the Cheetahs have two after losing a seventh straight match.

The Cheetahs were 10-0 down after Brumbies first five-eighths Christian Lealiifano had run in off first phase to score, but hit back to draw level at 13-all at halftime after a try from Jongi Nokwe.

However, Mark Gerrard, Peter Kimlin and Josh Holmes all scored for the Brumbies after the interval. The referee failed to spot a knock-on in the build up to Gerrard's try and it proved to be a turning point.

Danwel Demas and Wayne van Heerden scored late tries for Cheetahs, while Gerrard and Lealiifano also kicked a drop goal each.

Brumbies 40 (Christian Lealiifano, Mark Gerrard, Peter Kimlin, Josh Holmes tries; Stirling Mortlock 4 conversions; 2 penalties; Lealiifano drop goal, Gerrard drop goal) def. Cheetahs 27 (Jongi Nokwe, Danwel Demas, Wayne van Heerden tries; Jacques-Louis Potgieter 3 conversions, 2 penalties). Halftime: 13-13.

-AP

[mudskipper]

Brumbies too hot for Cheetahs
Saturday 04th April 2009

Christian Lealiifano finds the gap

The Brumbies put off-the-field events to one side as they claimed a 40-27 bonus-point victory over the hapless Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Durban happenings have been extremely tough for the Brumbies this past week, with the Shaun Mackay situation and reported hotel room theft severely testing the tourists' resolve.

However, the twelfth-place side demonstrated admirable character to weather the Cheetahs' mini-onslaughts in a four-try victory that will certainly lift spirits.

There was another subplot in this fixture as referee Matt Goddard returned from his break, and controversy was not too far away - not the official's fault I might add - as both teams trotted out wearing white jerseys...but the Australian's later comments of 'roll away blue' had one scratching their head.

The confusion did not affect George Smith and his men though as they set out their stall early on with Christian Lealiifano showing maturity beyond his years to slot over a fifth-minute drop-goal.

That territorial dominance continued for the next ten minutes and when the fly-half showed great feet, a nice dummy and pace to break the line off first-phase ball, the Brumbies raced into a 0-10 advantage.

But then came a turn of the tide as finally some level playing ground emerged for the Cheetahs. They had moved matters up to halfway with some fearsome defence aiding their cause, looking to unleash to raw pace of Jongi Nokwe and Danwel Demas. And with loosehead Wian du Preez wheeling an away scrummage to earn his side a turnover, home tails were well-and-truly up.

First it was home pivot Jacques-Louis Potgeiter who sent over their first points from the tee on 25 minutes, even if it did look slightly wide of the uprights. And on the other side of Stirling Mortlock's cancelling effort, the hosts continued to up their efforts. The busy hooker Adrian Strauss finding a fine gap which led to another three points before another free-flowing move saw the two speedsters combine as Nokwe strolled over for the leveller.

The Brumbies were starting to look a little shell-shocked as Mark Chisholm departed clutching his wrist and Lealiifano was also struggling in back-play as half-time approached.

Enter returning flanker Juan Smith with shirt colours remaining the same upon the turnaround. Could the Springbok's return be the catalyst they so craved to get over the finish line?

It seemed so until full-back Mark Gerrard broke out from his own 22-metre line with a chip and gather that led to him dribbling downfield and cross the whitewash as Strauss chased hard. That proved heatbreaking for the hosts and ultimately their undoing as the second-quarter fire seemed absent.

The Brumbies duly capitalised to make their spell count, and how. Following on from Gerrard's individual effort, Chisholm's replacement, Peter Kimlin, put his head down to extend the lead before scrum-half Josh Holmes put the game beyond the Cheetahs despite Demas' response.

Man of the match: Early joy for Christian Lealiifano must also be credited to the lively Josh Holmes as the Brumbies saw their half-backs dominate like the good old days.

The scorers:

For Cheetahs:
Tries: Nokwe, Demas, van Heerden
Con: Potgeiter 3
Pen: Potegeiter 2

For Brumbies:
Tries: Lealiifano, Gerrard, Kimlin, Holmes
Con: Mortlock 3
Pen: Mortlock 2
Drop: Lealiifano, Gerrard

Yellow card: George Smith (Brumbies on 62 minutes)

Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Hendro Scholtz (captain), 7 Wayne van Heerden, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 Bees Roux, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Kobus Calldo, 18 Juan Smith , 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Fabian Juries.

Brumbies: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Alfi Mafi, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Joshua Holmes, 8 Julian Salvi, 7 George Smith (c), 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacement (from): Huia Edmonds, Salesi Ma'afu, Sitaleki Timani, Peter Kimlin, Patrick Phibbs, Gene Fairbanks, Francis Fainifo.

Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)

http://www.planetrugby.com/Story/0,1...144479,00.html

[Burgs]

Good for the Brumbies

Not so good for us

[mudskipper]

[James]

Good for the Brumbies

Not so good for us

I wouldn't worry about it. They may have one more point but they probably have a harder run home than we do.

[jargan83]

Brumbies run home:

Brumbies vs Stormers
Brumbies vs Bulls
Hurricanes vs Brumbies
Reds vs Brumbies Suncorp Stadium
Brumbies vs Blues Canberra Stadium
Chiefs vs Brumbies

Force Run Home:

Western Force vs Hurricanes Subiaco Oval,
Waratahs vs Western Force Sydney Football Stadium
Western Force vs Lions Subiaco Oval
Bulls vs Western Force Loftus Versfeld
Stormers vs Western Force Newlands Rugby Stadium
Western Force vs Highlanders

[mudskipper]

The biggest difference is the Force are still to travel to the Republic but only two matches... Waratahs will be tough at home.

For the Brumbies Chiefs and Hurricanes away is a worry... definitely need to win one of those... Brumbies are doing the same, as past years and not getting enough bonus points. They really need a minimum of 4-5 bonus points to pick up 4th spot.

[Burgs]

The Force thrive in the Republic, probably our most successful country!

[jargan83]

5 wins, 2 losses and a draw from the 8 games so far in Sth Africa
Posted via Mobile Device

[Burgs]

Bring it on!

[lara93]

5 wins, 2 losses and a draw from the 8 games so far in Sth Africa

im sure they will travel well,
well i hope they do!

[GIGS20]

We've already notched wins agains the Bulls and Stormers away haven't we?

I see no reason why we can't do it again.

Unless of course our famous 'failure to engage' rears it's ugly head!

[mudskipper]

Brumbies tour from hell ends on sour note with injury to Mark Chisolm

After an emotionally exhausting week, the Brumbies' tour to hell and back ended with a much-needed win against the Cheetahs but also a potentially season-ending injury to Wallabies second-rower Mark Chisholm.

Chisholm sustained a suspected fractured wrist in the Brumbies' 40-27 win against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein yesterday and will miss the match with the Stormers in Canberra on Saturday.

He has been ordered not to fly until the swelling goes down to avoid deep vein thrombosis on the long flight back to Australia. He will spend the next two days in Durban where teammate Shawn Mackay is still in hospital after being hit by a vehicle eight days ago.


Gallery: All the action from Super 14 week eight

"Mark has a tingling sensation in his fingers," Brumbies coach Andy Friend said.

"The worst thing you can do is fly with something like that. If it is a fracture, he could be out for the rest of the season.

"After losing Macca we are low in our second-row stocks, but we still have three recognised second-rowers in the squad."

Wallabies second-rower Peter Kimlin is expected to start against the Stormers in place of Chisholm. The Brumbies' medical officer, Warren McDonald, and manager Rob McQuade remained in Durban to provide support for Mackay's parents and girlfriend, who are keeping a vigil by his bedside at St Augustine's Hospital.

Mackay has been brought out of his medically induced coma and is communicating by blinking his eyes, but has developed an infection and is still sedated.

"We hope to get them home on Tuesday," Friend said of McDonald and McQuade.

"We'll wait and see how Shawn goes."

The Brumbies travelled to the high veld with their season on the line. To make matters worse they lost winger Clyde Rathbone, who withdrew with a quadriceps injury and was replaced by Alfi Mafi for his first start of the season.

While the Brumbies would have been strongly favoured to beat the winless Cheetahs in normal circumstances, no one knew how Mackay's accident would affect the team.

But the Brumbies pulled themselves together to produce a four-try bonus-point win which has kept them in the race for the play-offs. The Brumbies were held to 13-all at half-time but scored three tries in the space of 10 minutes in the second half to extend the lead to 34-13.

"In most parts I was very happy," Friend said.

"With the week we had the boys showed a lot of character. When we controlled the game, as we did at the start of the first half and at the start of the second half, we looked very dangerous.

"Where we let ourselves down was playing loose rugby. If you play loose rugby, teams will turn you over and in this competition most of them are good enough to score off the back of that.

"For periods of the second half we put pressure on them with our line speed (in defence) when they had the ball, but we didn't do enough of that."

After winning only one of their three games in South Africa, the Brumbies are in eighth position with a 4-3 win-loss record but only five competition points adrift of the fourth-placed Bulls.

"We have six more games to go and a lot can happen," Friend said.

"We need to continue to win games or at least get points.

"Coming home from South Africa with five points, we would have liked a few more but it gives us something at least."

Friend said the Stormers, coming off a 12-6 loss to NSW in Sydney on Saturday night, would target the Brumbies.

"I watched the Stormers play the Waratahs," he said.

"They have a lot of class in their side. They are looking for a win on their road trip. We are coming back from South Africa and with the week we had, they will target us. They will throw everything at us. I'm quietly confident if we play our brand of rugby, we will be very difficult to beat."

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...002381,00.html