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Bumbling Brumbies fall to Hurricanes

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:35

Getting back to his best: Hurricanes No.8 Rodney So'oialo

The Hurricanes kept their playoff hopes alive when they beat the Brumbies 23-13 in Canberra on Friday.

People do not queue up and pay money to watch paint drying - certainly not on a Friday night in Canberra - or anywhere else in the world.  The first half of this must have been the drabbest Super 14 rugby in 2010. It was a bit better in the second half when the Hurricanes got the ball, which is another way of saying that the Brumbies were the ones responsible for the drabbest Super 14 match in 12010. They were responsible.

Their handling and planning were awful. They spent most of the first half in Hurricanes' territory, running now and again one at a time, and ended the half leading only 5-3.

The scrummaging in the first half merely added to the irritation - 10 scrums with three free kicks, 2 penalties, 6 resets and 8 collapses. That's not fun.

It took the Brumbies 34 minutes to start the scoring. By then the Hurricanes had had two yellow cards for tackle infringements. In all in that half they were penalised nine times, and yet the Brumbies did not score. To be fair they early on made kickable penalties into attacking line-outs without profit. When Nick Crosswell, who was the first player sin-binned, tackled high, Matt Giteau kicked at goal. He missed. Have you ever seen as lack-lustre a performance from Giteau in a rugby match. His positional play was poor. He hardly ever gave his side the chance to be fluid and his kicking was bad - a penalty and two conversions missed, four kicks out on the full from outside of the 22. It was not all his fault as his service from Patrick Phibbs was not a sympathetic one. Phibbs in turn would say that the ball he got from the forwards was not at all sympathetic as the Hurricanes put the pressure on at the tackle/ruck.

In all the Brumbies had 63% of possession and lost - not even a bonus point on their home ground.

The Brumbies started running but Stephen Moore lost the ball forward. It was almost their best passage of play in the match.  In the first nine minutes the Hurricanes were penalised five times. On the fifth occasion Crosswell went to the sin bin.

The Brumbies tried to maul but did not do it well, but then Stephen Hoiles broke and set them attacking. There was a long break while Mark Chisholm was attended to and then the Brumbies were penalised twice to the relief of the Hurricanes.

Julian Huxley had a fine moment when he counterattacked off a high kick by Aaron Cruden who missed three penalty kicks at goal in the match.

On 29 minutes the Hurricanes' scrumhalf Tyson Keats in fringed at a tackle and he, too, went to the sin bin.

When the Brumbies lost their throw in a line-out Victor Vito had a good run but from a line-out the Brumbies attacked with Huxley and Adam Ashley-Cooper prominent. They had a five-metre scrum, shoved the Hurricanes back sharply and Phibbs plunged over for the try. 5-0 after 34 minutes.

The Hurricanes certainly looked more accomplished when their backs attacked with Cory Jane, Hosea Gear, Conrad Smith. Rodney So'oialo and when Tamati Ellison broke.

The Brumbies were penalised at a scrum and Cruden goaled on half-time to make it 5-3.

Early in the second half sturdy hooker Andrew Hore came bursting away till Ashley -Cooper caught him from behind Moore was penalised at a tackle and Cruden gave the Hurricanes a  surprise 6-5 .

Keats broke to set the Hurricanes on a rare trip into the land of the Brumby. Then the Hurricanes went right from a line-out with simple passing - short, to the man next to you. It went Keats to Vito to Crosswell to Keats to Cruden to Gear who broke strongly. Gear gave to Nonu who gave to Jane who flicked it on to Tamati Ellison who immediately played the ball back inside for a try by Conrad Smith.

It was the highlight of the match. What the Hurricanes did in this attack, the Brumbies could not do in the whole match Cruden converted from far out. 13-5. Immediately the Brumbies came back and they hammered at the line - Giteau, then Phibbs and then Moore and then Giteau darted over as Nonu tackled him. 13-10 after 56 minutes.

Huia Edmunds came on as a substitute for Moore and soon afterwards was off again - the sin bin. The penalty against him  at the tackle was the fourth against the Brumbies in the half. Cruden goaled the subsequent penalty. 16-10 with 17 minutes to play.

Soon afterwards Nonu was offside and Giteau made if 16-13. But it did not herald a new dawn for the Brumbies.

The Hurricanes moved the ball to the right. Tamati Ellison stepped off his wing as Ashley-Cooper tackled him. The ball went loose towards the Brumbies' line. Some players stopped but Vito swooped on the ball and scored under the posts. The referee explained that the ball had been knocked back by a Brumby hand - Ashley-Cooper's hand. Home supporters voiced anger. 23-13 with 9 minutes to play.

Man of the Match: Andrew Hore - for the way he kept on trying, tackling, contesting leading from the front.

The Scorers:

For the Brumbies:
Tries: Phibbs, Giteau
Pen: Giteau

For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Smith, Vito
Con: Cruden 2
Pen: Cruden 3

Yellow cards: Nick Crosswell (Hurricanes, 10, tackle infringement), Tyson Keats (Hurricanes, 29, tackle infringement), Huia Edmonds (Brumbies, 64, tackle infringement)

Teams:

Brumbies: 15 Julian Huxley, 14 Pat McCabe, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Alfie Mafi, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Patrick Phibbs, 8 Stephen Hoiles (captain), 7 Michael Hooper, 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 Colby Faingaa, 20 James Stannard,  21 Brackin Kaurauria-Henry,  22 Andrew Smith.

Hurricanes: 15 Cory Jane, 14 Tamati Ellison, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tyson Keats, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Nick Crosswell, 6 Victor Vito, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore (captain), 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Jacob Ellison, 18 Bryn Evans, 19 James Broadhurst, 20 Chris Eaton, 21 Willie Ripia, 22 Jason Kawau.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Stuart Dikcinson (Australia), Andrew Lees (Australia)
TMO: Matthew Goddard (Australia)

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