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Canberra gives up mixed response for soon-to-be Brumbie Giteau
Article from: PerthNow
Nick Taylor, rugby writer
March 03, 2009 12:42pm
MATT Giteau cut a lone figure in Canberra Stadium 40 minutes before kick off as he went through his pre-match kicking practice.
He received a muted welcome - not the kind of roar he can expect next season from his soon-to-be again home crowd.
And when he was shown on the big screen just before kick off, there were more than few boos echoing around the stadium.
Three minutes into the game he put through a lovely grubber kick that was met by a one-eyed Brumby fan who yelled "whose side are you on".
His first attempted line-break ended with a turnover.
The Force's biggest loss was then cheered by the same fan, and a few thousand more, when he missed the conversion of Shepherd's try that would have put the Force ahead.
The travelling Force fans were the only noise to be heard when he knocked over a penalty on halftime.
But the Brumbies camp were equally as gleeful when he missed a penalty early in the second period, and again when he hit the post with his attempted conversion of Shepherd's third try.
As he left the ground, Giteau was besieged by autograph hunters, each program, jumper and scrap of paper was signed.
He then spent several minutes talking to his old, and soon-to-be, new teammates before heading off to fulfil media commitments with the words, "see you next year, mate" coming from Brumbies' fans.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...005403,00.html