Brumbies tear Qld a new one...

[frontrow]

CA Brumbies continue unbeaten Reds record
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Brumbies Media Unit


The CA Brumbies have continued their unbeaten home record over the Queensland Reds with a convincing 43-11 win in their Investec Super 14 Week Three match at Canberra Stadium tonight.

Missing the likes of regular starting players Stirling Mortlock, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Gene Fairbanks and Clyde Rathbone, the ‘baby CA Brumbies’ retained the Rod Macqueen Cup with their six-tries-to-one victory and were rewarded with rapturous full-time applause from the 15,244-strong Canberra crowd.

Mark Gerrard, who slotted into the fullback role when Julian Huxley was stretchered of the field in the second minute after sustaining a head knock, chimed in with his best performance of the season, kick-starting his side’s scoring with the opening try and extending the lead with a swag of five conversions and a penalty goal. The 25 year old, whose 62 career caps easily eclipsed the combined total of the remainder of his backline in Huxley’s absence, continually relieved pressure on the side with his thundering right boot to claim the CA/Dataflex Man of the Match.

The CA Brumbies back row were well served by their enthusiastic forward pack led by captain George Smith, hooker Saia Faingaa in his first start for the Canberra side, and flanker Mitch Chapman in his first hit-out against his former province. No.8 Stephen Hoiles was again workmanlike in his performance, covering the extent of field in defence and counter-attack as well as crossing for his second try in as many weeks.

In his first run-on start for the year, scrumhalf Patrick Phibbs was aggressive in defence and provided quality service for flyhalf Christian Lealiifano, who continued to orchestrate his inexperienced backline.

CA Brumbies Head Coach Laurie Fisher, who ranked the win as “right up there” during his coaching tenure with the CA Brumbies, said he was proud of the performance of his young squad.

“It’s been a tough start to the year for us and to play like that is a wonderful credit to the 21 players who were out there tonight,” he said. “I thought Christian Lealiifano was tremendous out there and Leo Afeaki made a wonderful debut. Saia Faingaa in his first Super 14 starting game and at 20 years of age, the work he did out there tonight was terrific. I don’t want to single out individual blokes but there were some guys who were absolutely magnificent.

“We took a lot of confidence out of defending comprehensively in the first half and got a bit of adrenaline in the second half, a few things stuck for us and it paid off.”

Leading 10-3 at the break, Reds fullback Clinton Schifcofske narrowed the margin to four with a 43rd minute penalty goal before CA Brumbies lock Mark Chisholm stamped his authority on the match with a two-try rampage midway through the term.

Chisholm’s first five-pointer came when a passage miraculously opened for the storming second-rower to waltz through untouched before he found himself on the end of a Lealiifano cut-out pass eight minutes later to bump off Schifcofske and charge over for his second.

The home side kept the pressure on throughout the half with a yellow card to Reds reserve Peter Hynes (professional foul) sparking a three-try frenzy for the home side. Reserve front-rower Ben Alexander was the first to benefit when he burrowed over the line on debut while Peter Playford turned the defensive line inside out before making a last-ditch dive for the line for his first try for the CA Brumbies.

Reds No.8 John Roe marked his 100th Queensland cap with a late consolation try before a runaway Hoiles gave the vocal crowd a fitting finish when he raced down the right-hand flank to score in the corner with two minutes remaining.

The CA Brumbies take on the Waratahs in their Investec Super 14 Week Four match at the Sydney Football Stadium on 7 March.


MATCH DETAILS
CA Brumbies 43 (Mark Chisholm 2; Mark Gerrard, Ben Alexander, Peter Playford, Stephen Hoiles tries; Mark Gerrard 5/6 conversions, 1/2 penalty goal) defeated Reds 11 (John Roe try; Clinton Schifcofske 0/1 conversions, 2/2 penalty goals) at Canberra Stadium, Canberra.
Referee: Paul Honiss (NZ)
Half time: CA Brumbies 10-3
Crowd: 15,244

[Thequeerone]

John Roe was visibly upset at the end of that game - like many I expected a closer result - but it seemed that discipline was lacking for the reds

[frontrow]

This is the Reds website version of events...

Brumbies remain unbeaten by Reds in Canberra

No celebration for Roe (Sportography image)Saturday, 1 March 2008
The Brumbies maintained their unbeaten record against Queensland in Canberra when they lifted to a 43-11 win over the QR Reds in Round 3 of the Investec Super 14 tournament, to successfully defend the Rod Macqueen Cup.

The Reds were out-enthused by the young Brumbies, who recovered from the loss of their playmaker Julian Huxley in the first two minutes to run away from the Reds in the second half after leading 10-3 at the break.

The Brumbies scored six tries to the Reds' one, the fourth five pointer for the year to captain John Roe providing the skipper with little consolation in whgat was his 100th match for Queensland.

Roe said the Reds failed to show sufficient desperation and enthusiasm in defence, allowing the Brumbies to display their trademark running game.

Wing Clinton Schifcofske kicked a penalty goal either side of halftime but the Reds lacked the penetration necessary to keep pace with the Brumbies.

Their attacking moves were well-read by the Brumbies, with scrumhalf Patrick Phibbs and flanker and captain George Smith to the fore.

The Reds lost Peter Hynes to a yellow card in the second half for a professional foul, which sealed their fate with the Brumbies on full attack.

Brumbies 43 (Mark Chisholm 2, Ben Alexander, Mark Gerrard, Stephen Hoiles, Peter Playford tries Gerrard 5 cons pen) def QR Reds 11 (John Roe try Clinton Schifcofske 2 pens) Crowd: 15,244.

[laura]

Anyone see today's Main Game....Huxley (Brumbies) got knocked out and started convulsing on the field...Chris Latham (Reds) and Morgan Turinui (Reds) rushed to his aid. He was then wheeled off the fireld and taken to hospital in a neck brace.

[frontrow]

I have goosebumps 'cause the exact same thing happened to me, and it is bloody scary going into convulsions and knowing exactly what is happening but being unable to do anything till you black out...Scariest moment in my entire rugby career...I wish him well and hope he recovers as well as i did...

[slomo]

i watched this game last night the reds were woeful, a few good tries from the brumbies, stephen hoiles last try was a cracker...... where do the reds go from here?.

[kelv]

Yeah i wish Huxley all the best. I thought the brumbies actually played better without him they lost there kicker and played some really good attacking rugby. Gerrard had one of his best games in a long time and phibbs was rock solid at halfback. The reds were a disgrace, had nothing in attack or defence. Is there any room in the game now for rodney blake these new rules are killing him he was caught out a few times in defence back on the inside. My man of the match would be Hoiles he was everywhere.

[Evie]

The Canberra Times version of things.... and I would tend to agree, it was such a gutsy performance in so many ways.


Baby Brumbies leave Qld red faced in Super brave triumph
Peter Fitzgerald

THEY may only be kids but they've got a heck of a lot of talent.

Last night at Canberra Stadium, it was on display at its finest for all to see.

The "Baby Brumbies" backline orchestrated an astonishing annihilation of the Queensland Reds, running in six tries to one in the 43-11 Super 14 victory.

The bonus-point win provided fans with the first real indication of the young players' true talent.

Not surprisingly, they liked what they saw.

After losing fullback Julian Huxley in the third minute with a head injury, the Brumbies backline could easily have caved in and let the Reds run riot.

Instead, it was the ACT which dominated, chalking up its second-biggest victory against the Reds.

While Mark Gerrard was inspirational as the only member of the backline with more than 20 Super rugby caps of experience - following Huxley's exit - it was his younger teammates who had the 15,244 fans in raptures.

Francis Fainifo finally delivered what he had promised for 12 months, his speed and flair in attack setting up a couple of tries.

Tyrone Smith again impressed, his nuggety stature and brutal strength too much for the Queensland defence.

Debutant Sanualio Afeaki couldn't have done much more, constantly breaking through the Reds defence and giving nothing away in attack.

Flyhalf Christian Lealiifano was everywhere, completely dominating rival and Wallabies No10 Berrick Barnes.

And entering the match as Huxley's replacement barely after referee Paul Honiss had blown time-on, Peter Playford asserted himself as a future star with relentless attacking raids.

For victorious coach Laurie Fisher, the most satisfying aspect of the result was the fact the Reds had talked up their chances of victory in the lead-up.

"They came down here with a lot of confidence and thought they could knock us off, so to spank them so comprehensively was pretty satisfying," he said. "As far as wins go in my time here, it's right up there, I'll tell you.

"We shut them down totally and gave them little chance of getting anywhere near us."

The win will undoubtedly go down as one of the most courageous in the Brumbies history.

The Reds had never won at Canberra Stadium heading into the match but believed they finally had the side to break through.

The Brumbies thought differently and played accordingly.

The home side led 10-3 at halftime and Queensland narrowed the margin to four points with a successful penalty goal early in the second half.

But from there, the Brumbies dominated all aspects of the contest.

Hooker Saia Faingaa played the match of his life in his run-on debut.

Replacement prop Ben Alexander enjoyed a fairytale Super 14 debut, scoring a try with one of his first touches of the ball.

Mark Chisholm, who scored two tries in the romp, said a pre-match speech from retired legend Stephen Larkham inspired the Brumbies.

"I don't want to give Bernie too much credit for his words - he mumbles a lot - but he said that if one man goes down, there's still 21 others who can influence the overall result," Chisholm said.

"Then when Hux went down, I think it almost settled us down in a way and we all responded well to it."

The only downside to the result was the sin-binning of winger Fainifo.

Fainifo will face a SANZAR judicial hearing early this week after he was dismissed from the field for a dangerous throw on Barnes.

The Brumbies travel to Sydney on Thursday for their second consecutive Australian derby, this time against the NSW Waratahs at the SFS on Friday night.

[fulvio sammut]

...I wish him well and hope he recovers as well as i did...

You recovered?

[GIGS20]

Tic? TOCC? Where are you boys?

Just wondered what your take on the game was!

Or are you going to pull a Bulldog on us now?

[Flamethrower]

They can keep their animal fetish's to themselves