Brumbies ease past Reds at Ballymore

It was a comfortable 31-18 for the Brumbies over the Reds in their pre-season showdown at Ballymore on Friday.

And to add injury to insult Reds flanks Liam Gill and Lolo Fakaosilea suffered injuries that could sideline both for lengthy periods.

Gill, who this week announced he will leave the Reds to play in France at the end of the season, departed the game after 18 minutes – clutching his right shoulder, following a tackle on Brumbies wing Joe Tomane.

Fakaosilea was helped off the field with a knee injury during the second quarter.

Even if the news on this pair is less serious than feared, the second successive convincing defeat – following the heavy 3-31 defeat to the Crusaders last week – suggests the Reds still have some way to go and may well finished outside the top 10 again this year.

The Reds did take an early lead, through a Jake McIntyre  penalty, but that lasted barely two minutes – before the Brumbies took control and remained in command till a late consolation try gave the Reds' score some credibility.

Joe Tomane was a standout for the Brumbies, the Wallabies wing looked threatening every time he touched the ball on the left hand side. Tomane created a number of linebreak's for the team and his defence was rock solid, making a number of key tackles throughout the night.

Ita Vaea was another key player for the Brumbies, the No.8 was  dominant in the first half, bulldozing his way through Queensland defenders at will and putting his side on the front foot.

The game didn't start well for the Brumbies, giving an away an early penalty 40 metres out after Matt Toomua was caught offside at a line-out. Reds flyhalf Jake McIntyre slotted the kick and gave the Reds an early 3-0 lead after only five minutes.

Only two minutes later the Brumbies responded, co-captain Stephen Moore going over the try line as part of a trademark Brumbies rolling maul. Christian Lealiifano added the extras from the sideline to give the Brumbies a 7-3 lead.

Ten minutes later the Reds closed the gap, a breakdown infringement lead to another Reds penalty only 25 metres out. McIntyre made no mistake with the kick and the gap was cut to 7-6.

The Brumbies answered back only a minute later, Joe Tomane and Ita Vaea combining down the left touch line for huge metres before Vaea barged his way over in the corner. The try gave the Brumbies a 12-6 lead heading into the quarter time break.

Ten minutes into the next period the Brumbies were looking dangerous before Argentinian scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli sold a dummy and dived over under the posts for his first score as a Brumby. Lealiifano converted and the Brumbies had a 19-6 lead.

Both sides continued to push for the remainder of the half but were unsuccessful in putting points on the board and the score stayed at 19-6 heading into half-time.

The Brumbies started the second half as strongly as they finished the first with Tevita Kuridrani going over in the corner after a brilliant break from Joe Tomane him in space. Lealiifano made the sideline conversion look easy and the Brumbies had run out to a 26-6 lead.

Five minutes later it was trouble for the Brumbies, David Pocock sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements at the breakdown.

The Reds pressured the Brumbies line for phases upon phase before finally Nick Frisby darted over after a quick tap to cut the lead back to 26-11.

Pocock returned to the field shortly after and both sides continued to trade blows right up until the three-quarter time break.

After the break the Brumbies regained the ascendency, continually pressuring the Reds inside their half.

Eight minutes into the last period the Brumbies pressure finally produced some points, Robbie Abel going over for his first try as a Brumby on the back of another great driving maul to give the Brumbies a 31-11 lead.

Both sides were determined to throw the ball around for the rest of the game but neither side was able to crack the strong defence.

With full-time hooter having sounded the Brumbies were attacking the Reds inside their 22 before Queensland lock Ben Matjiwow intercepted the ball and ran all the way to the Brumbies 22.

The Reds recycled quickly before Rugby League convert Eto Nabuli went over in the corner to finish the game, Ayumu Goromaru converted and the Brumbies came away with a 31-18 victory.

The scorers:

For the Reds:

Tries: Frisby, Nabuli

Con: Goromaru

Pens: McIntyre 2

For the Brumbies:

Tries: Moore, Vaea, Cubelli, Kuridrani, Abel

Cons: Lealiifano 3

Yellow card: David Pocock (Brumbies, 48 – repeated breakdown infringements)

Teams:

Reds: 15 Karmichael Hunt, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Henry Taefu, 11 Eto Nabuli, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Lolo Fakaosilea, 5 Rob Simmons (captain), 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Andrew Ready, 1 Ben Daley.            

Replacements – from: Saia Fainga'a, Sef Fa'agase, Sam Talakai, Ben Matwijow, Curtis Browning, Hendrik Tui, Scott Gale, Sam Greene, Junior Laloifi, Campbell Magnay, Ayumu Goromaru.

Brumbies: 15 Aidan Toua, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano (co-captain), 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (co-captain), 1 Allan Alaalatoa.

Replacements – from: Robbie Abel, Scott Sio, Leslie Leulua'iali'i-Makin, Blake Enever, Jarrad Butler, Michael Dowsett, Nick Jooste, Andrew Smith, Tom Staniforth, Jordan Smiler, Nigel Ah Wong.

Referee: Angus Gardner

Assistant referees: Nic Berry, Jordan Way

@BrumbiesRugby & @Reds_Rugby