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Brumbies edge Sharks in nailbiter

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:31

Nailbiter: Brumbies centre Christian Lealiifano

The Brumbies managed to hold on for a nailbiting 24-22 win against the Sharks in a Super 14 match in Canberra on Saturday in a game which seldom rose to any great heights.

While the saving grace for spectators was that the game was tight on the scoreboard and the result in doubt until the very end, neither team would have gone into their changing-rooms happy with their performance.

The Brumbies outscored the Sharks by two tries to one, as the boot of former England flyhalf Andy Goode kept the visitors in the game.

It was a despondent Sharks' captain John Smit who bemoaned the fact that his team have now lost four of their five games by fewer than seven points - meaning they were within one score of victory, but could not close out the win.

Smit admitted that they were once again their own worst enemies and said they are running out of time.

"We just got to make it happen next week," the Sharks' skipper said.

Brumbies' captain Stephen Hoiles admitted that it was not a game of any great standards. He admitted that the desperation shown by the Sharks may have contributed to it not being a good game.

Coaches like to say that rugby is a game of inches and so it proved in this game. The Sharks led 22-21 going into the last 10 minutes but at a Brumbies' attacking line-out, Sharks No.8 Ryan Kankowski stepped inches over the 15-metre line before attempting an intercept, and that was that.

The infringement is a penalty and not a free-kick offence and Matt Giteau's penalty goal won the game for the home team.

The Sharks exerted good pressure in the first ten minutes but ball-carrier John Smit running into team-mate Jacques Botes cost them momentum as the Brumbies were awarded a defensive scrum, and then when the Sharks attacked strongly again, the Brumbies secured a turnover at a ruck inside their 22.

But the Sharks did score first when Goode kicked a 50-metre penalty goal to put the visitors 3-0 ahead in the 13th minute.

Three minutes later Goode stretched the lead to 6-0 when he goaled a second penalty, this time from 30 metres out and 13 metres in from touch - another fine kick.

From the kick-off the Brumbies retained possession impressively as they strung together 12 phases and were rewarded when, in the 21st minute, Giteau kicked a penalty goal from in front of the posts inside the 22 to reduce the Sharks lead to 6-3.

The home team were achieving good continuity and two minutes later Giteau had another shot at goal from in front of the posts, this time on the 22, and made no mistake to level the score at 6-6.

For the next few minutes, all the territory and momentum belonged to the home team as they attacked strongly inside the Sharks' 22, with scrumhalf Josh Valentine a constant handful for the defenders.

Christian Lealiifano came close to crossing the line, Francis Fainifo was stopped just short, and then in the 32nd minute loosehead prop Ben Alexander crashed over for a try which Giteau converted (13-6).

But the Sharks hit back three minutes later. Ruan Pienaar took full advantage after the Sharks committed defenders with pick-and-go drives inside the Brumbies' 22 and the scrumhalf - sharp and quick - burst through a gap unchallenged for a well-taken try.

Goode goaled the angled conversion from near touch to level the score at 13-13 and just on halftime he goaled a long, angled penalty to put the Sharks 16-13 up - his fourth kick out of four, none of them straight-forward.

Tyrone Smith replaced an injured Stirling Mortlock at the start of the second half and the Sharks built momentum nicely in the first two minutes after the break, with a series of phases inside the Brumbies' 22. But a turnover conceded at an attacking ruck cost them 50 metres and from there, Sharks' hands-in at a ruck gave the Brumbies a penalty and then a five-metre scrum.

When Smit was penalised at the scrum, the Brumbies opted for another scrum and from the series of pick-and-drives following the scrum, Alexander scored his second try. Giteau's conversion hit the upright - his first missed shot at goal in the Super 14 this season - but the Brumbies had gone ahead 18-16 with just over half an hour to play.

Goode put the Sharks in front again in the 53rd minute when he goaled a penalty from 32 metres out and 7 metres in from touch and the Sharks led 19-18 - his fifth consecutive excellent goal-kick.

In the 59th minute, the Brumbies took a 21-19 lead when Giteau goaled an angled penalty, but then Goode replied in kind two minutes later and the visitors led 22-21.

The Brumbies attacked with conviction, varying between pick-and-go and passing the ball, but the Sharks' defence was tight and relief came for the visitors when the Brumbies were penalised at a five-metre scrum and then, when the home team attacked again, for not releasing in a tackle.

Kankowski was penalised for going offside when the Brumbies won a line-out - an experienced No.8 should know better than to run beyond the 15-metre line before the line-out was over - and Giteau goaled another angled penalty to put the Brumbies 24-22 up with nine minutes left.

The Sharks attacked in a desperate effort to pull off a win but it was not to be and the hooter sounded with the Brumbies holding onto their two-point lead.

The Sharks had come close again, but not quite made it, which means they move on to Dunedin having played five, lost five. Their discipline was perhaps better than it had been in previous games, but it remains an issue and they let themselves down with crucial handling errors and wrong options - and at least a few times, while their ideas were good, execution went awry.

The Brumbies will take their win but they will know that they need to improve if this is to be a memorable campaign for them. Their continuity was good in passages of the game but not consistently effective, and they will acknowledge that if they are to be semi-final contenders they will need to finish what they create more often.

Man of the Match: Andy Goode's accurate goal-kicking was of great value to the Sharks and Willem Alberts and Bismarck du Plessis were both a force up front. For the Brumbies, Josh Valentine was accomplished at scrumhalf and among the forwards Rocky Elsom and Ben Alexander made huge contributions. But the Man of the Match must be George Smith - again his workrate was exemplary and he was consistently effective on defence and attack in an impressive 80-minute loose forward performance.

The scorers:

For the Brumbies:
Tries: Alexander 2
Con: Giteau
Pens: Giteau 4

For the Sharks:
Try: Pienaar
Con: Goode
Pens: Goode 5

Teams:

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, 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.

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 John Smit (captain), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Keegan Daniel, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Waylon Murray.

Referee: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Paul Marks (Australia), Simon Moore (Australia)
TMO: Matt Goddard (Australia)

By Len Kaplan

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