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Waratahs outbore Brumbies

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:53

Listen to the boss: Waratahs' Phil Waugh and Kurtley Beale

There were 40,271 spectators at a damp ANZ Stadium in Sydney to watch the Waratahs beat the Brumbies 19-12 in a match when the best activity came after the final siren had sounded, the death throes of a tedious game.

The Waratahs scored the only try when Berrick Barnes kicked a diagonal though earlier in the match Adam Ashley-Cooper got over in the corner, only to be penalised for holding on. It was in fact a match of many penalties - 29 in all. Part of the dire spectacle was the number of scrums in the second half to the Waratahs which had unsatisfactory endings. The Waratahs put the ball into 10 scrums. Six were reset, 14 collapsed, seven were penalised and there was a free kick. It did not make for good viewing on a Saturday night.

The Waratahs were pleased with their four points, the Brumbies hurt to get just a bonus point and virtually end their hopes of making a semifinal.

There was a lot of kicking - not much running but a lot of kicking, much of it of the me-to-you kind, and yet it started so promisingly - and it did have that gem after 50 minutes, the only gem.

Inside the first minute, Julien Huxley had a clearing kick charged down, Andrew Smith went offside in trying to clean up and Daniel Halangahu goaled his first penalty on a night of classy kicking. He missed none, Giteau two.

Just after the penalty score, Josh Valentine chipped and Pat McCabe ran onto the ball down the short side.  Ben Mowen was penalised but Giteau missed.

Scrumming, penalties and kicking were not the only game-destroying factors. Both sides had scrumhalves who preferred slow ball to quick ball and the slower the better. The possibility of playing quickly and constructively went out the window.

Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles was brought to ground in a tackle. He got up, was penalised and voiced his objections. The extra 10 metres helped Halangahu goal his second penalty 6-0 after 16 minutes.

There was a burst of activity when the Waratahs won a turnover off Giteau and Lachie Turner sent Tom Carter racing down the tight touch-line. He grubbered ahead but McCabe came over from the far side to flykick the ball into touch.

Tyrone Smith, who had an injudicious game, was penalised at a tackle. 9-0 after 23 minutes.

After many Brumby phases, Mowen was penalised at a tackle and Giteau goaled. 9-3 after 26 minutes.

In all there were 18 penalties at tackle/rucks.

The Brumbies again went through phases and suddenly there was life as energetic Ashley-Cooper burst for the line and was over in the corner on his left, only to be penalised. He was tackled about three metres from the line, went on, rose up and crashed to ground for the "try".

In the last 10 minutes, Giteau goaled two more penalties, both for tackle infringements, one by Phil Waugh and one by Turner. That made the score 9-all at the break.

After one of five successive penalties against the Brumbies at scrums, Halangahu kicked a long penalty from the right to make the score 12-9.

Then came the game's highlights.

A long way out on the left Berrick Barnes kicked a long diagonal to the far right. Turner chased after the ball and just in from touch put up a hand to draw the bouncing ball to him. There was nobody in front of him as we swept over for the try. There was nobody there because Alfie Mafi was injured. 19-9 after 50 minutes.

McCabe countered and chipped but Holmes rescued the situation.

Mowen was again penalised at a tackle and Giteau kicked the easy penalty. 19-12 after 61 minutes.

Burgess kicked a clever chip which Turner chased. Brackin Kaurauria-Henry got back to the ball and got it short of the line but Turner forced him into in-goal for a five metre scrum and the game's most sterile period. There followed not three five-metre scrums, with three resets, five collapses and three penalties. It must have been a nightmare revisited for referee Stave Walsh as that is how his previous match, Chiefs vs Stormers, and  worn out the last six minutes of the match. This time the impasse was broken when Al Baxter was penalised at a scrum and the Brumbies escaped.

The best came last. The Brumbies countered, then Dave Dennis burst away with the ball and then the Brumbies countered again. The siren went with the Brumbies going through many phases till Ben Hand was penalised and Waugh hoofed the ball out.

Man of the Match: Adam Ashley-Cooper was the one bright spark on an otherwise drab evening.

Scorers:

For the Waratahs:
Try: Turner
Con: Halangahu
Pens: Halangahu 4

For the Brumbies:
Pens: Giteau 4

Teams:

Waratahs: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Tom Carter, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Josh Holmes, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 Damien Fitzpatrick, 17 Dan Palmer, 18 Will Caldwell, 19 Chris Alcock, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Rory Sidey, 22 Sosene Anesi.

Brumbies: 15 Julian Huxley, 14 Pat McCabe, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Stephen Hoiles (captain), 7 Colby Faingaa, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Mitchell Chapman, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Ben Hand, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Patrick Phibbs, 21 Brackin Kaurauria-Henry, 22 Alfie Mafi.

Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Nathan Pearce (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

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