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Brumbies silence Newlands faithful

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:03

Playmaker: Brumbies flyhalf Matt Giteau

The Brumbies continued their impressive run of victories over the Stormers, surviving a late rally to score a 19-17 Super 14 win that silenced the Newlands faithful on Friday.

In a match this tight it was always going to be one error or moment of magic that was going to be decisive and in the end it was a long pass from Stormers tighthead prop Bok Harris that was intercepted by one of the Brumbies old masters, flank George Smith, that swung the game.

With no tries scored and the only points coming from Matt Giteau and Joe Pietersen trading penalties, it was the Stormers who twice towards the end of the game deserted their strategy of kicking for territory from inside their 22 and not running from deep - and it cost them 10 points and the match.

A penalty against Bryan Habana at breakdown and then the Smith intercept both came from the Stormers deviating from their tried and tested pattern.

They have performed well in every match so far this year - in their pre-season tri-series and in their first two Super 14 games - by adhering to their carefully structured systems, and when they deviated from this under pressure in this game, it cost them dearly.

The Brumbies won the tactical battle, playing more conservatively than is their wont by running the ball less and kicking more. And their kicking for territory was excellently executed, forcing the Stormers to play inside their own half far more than they'd like and struggling to get back into the Brumbies half.

It was a game of intricately plotted strategy rather than providing scintillating rugby and, as Brumbies coach Andy Friend was gracious enough to point out afterwards, a draw may have been the fairest result.

But the Stormers will feel they let themselves down.

Their physicality was good and their defence excellent, but their scrums and line-out a little less convincing than it has been and they conceded turnovers on attack through crucial unforced errors - including at least four knock-ons which relieved big pressure on the Brumbies.

The patience and composure which has been a hallmark of their game this year, was too often absent.

Worst of all perhaps, was the erratic, too often inaccurate, execution of their kicking game. Normally a strength, it was a weakness in this game as time and again they found Brumbies waiting for the ball exactly where they had kicked or they simply kicked aimlessly. They were seldom able to exert sustained pressure from their kicking for position.

The Brumbies were tactically sound. Clearly, after watching the Waratahs bash away at the Stormers for 80 minutes without breaching the defence and scoring a try last week, the Brumbies decided in advance to set up fewer phases than the multiple-phase game they like, and run at the Stormers less, and kick for position more.

Giteau in particular did that superbly and, disconcertingly, the Stormers found themselves having to turn around and run back into their own half time and again after long Brumbies kicks downfield.

The tactic of kicking into the right area of the field and then exhibiting patience was the correct recipe for the Brumbies in this game - and all credit to them for adjusting their game so cleverly, and getting the execution of the strategy correct when it counted.

The first half was as close as 40 minutes of rugby can be, with the Stormers taking a 3-0 lead through a penalty by Pietersen in the 14th minute and the Brumbies drawing level with a Giteau penalty two minutes later. A penalty by Pietersen in the 21st minute made it 6-3 and a penalty by Giteau seven minutes later tied the score at 6-6.

The closest either team came to scoring a try was when, early in the half, the Stormers drove from a line-out five metres out and flank Pieter Louw appeared to score just inside the touch-in-goal line, but TMO Johann Meuwesen ruled that the ball had touched the line in the act of grounding.

The scoring continued similarly after the break with the Stormers going into a 9-6 lead in the 48th minute through a third Pietersen penalty and the Brumbies equalising four minutes later when Giteau goaled his third penalty.

The visitors took the lead for the first time in the 63rd minute when Giteau slotted a fourth penalty but the home team drew level two minutes later when Pietersen goaled his fourth.

The came the decisive moment in the game.

With three minutes left to play, the Stormers, under pressure in their 22, uncharacteristically ran the ball and Harris's attempt at a long pass found a grateful Smith waiting to snatch the ball and race away to score under the posts. Giteau converted and with the game all but over, the Brumbies led 19-12.

The Stormers were not quite dead and buried yet though as the Brumbies fluffed the kick-off and conceded a penalty.

With less than half a minute left on the clock, Pietersen hurriedly kicked into touch. The driving maul from the Stormers line-out saw Pieter Louw race around the blindside for a try about seven metres in from touch. He almost lost the ball in his grounding, but this time the TMO ruled in his favour.

Fortunately for the visitors, and unhappily for the home team, Pietersen's kick never came close - rough for him because he has been so accurate with his boot for the Stormers and it was a kick with which he'd expect to succeed nine times out of 10.

But that was that and the Brumbies could celebrate their 10th Super Rugby win over the Stormers in 13 years.

The Stormers were left to ponder the 'what ifs' and a solitary bonus point, as the visitors took home four valuable points - which they will cherish after last week's 32-50 defeat at Loftus Versfeld.

Man of the Match: Giteau would come close because of his goal-kicking, his tactical acumen and the accurate execution of his kicking for position. But the star of the show was Brumbies fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper. His positional play was spot-on, he was secure under the high ball - and most impressively, every time he ran with the ball he had the Stormers defence stretching to tackle him. His elusive running was exceptionally good.

The scorers:

For the Stormers:
Try: P Louw
Pens: Pietersen 4

For the Brumbies:
Try: Smith
Con: Giteau
Pens: Giteau 4

Teams:

Stormers: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Pieter Louw, 5 Andries Bekker (captain), 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 JC Kritzinger.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Eusebio Guinazu, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Pieter Myburgh, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Lionel Cronjé, 22 Sireli Naqelevuki.

Brumbies: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Pat McCabe, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Stephen Hoiles (captain), 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Justin Harrison, 19 Mitchell Chapman, 20 Patrick Phibbs, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Tyrone Smith.

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Pro Legoete (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)

By Len Kaplan

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