Fisher: 'Brumbies will finish strongly'
Sun, 04 May 2008 13:17
Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher expects his side to finish the Super 14 season on a strong note, despite the 10-20 loss against the Stormers at the weekend.
In a fast-paced first half, the Stormers raced to a 20-0 half-time lead, before the Brumbies replied with 10 unanswered points in the second half.
"This is a side with a lot of pride and a lot of courage and I think that was demonstrated [on Saturday]," Fisher said.
"To go down 20 points in 14 minutes, it would be very easy - away from home - to say 'our season's gone' and put our cue in the rack. We fought courageously and I'm expecting no less next week at Loftus [against the Bulls] and again no less effort the following week at Subiaco [against the Western Force].
"If we can just smarten up areas of our game, look at opportunities that may be available against the Bulls, I expect us to dust ourselves off and front up for a game of rugby next Friday night."
Having withstood a Brumbies' raid early in the match, the Stormers converted their first venture into the Brumbies quarter when Gcobani Bobo found space and linked with centre partner Jean de Villiers to score in the 12th minute.
De Villiers' try sparked a 14-minute scoring blitz for the Stormers that netted two conversions and two penalty goals through flyhalf Peter Grant, and a penalty try when referee Steve Walsh judged Brumbies flyhalf Christian Lealiifano to have interfered with Bobo in support of a De Villiers break.
The indiscretion earned the 20 year old a yellow card and a 10-minute spell on the sideline.
Down 0-20 at the beginning the second half, it was the Brumbies who struck first when inside centre Tyrone Smith brushed past three Stormers defenders before offloading to wing Adam Ashley-Cooper to slide over in the 55th minute.
With a potential comeback imminent, the Brumbies rallied, denying the Stormers two
likely tries through outstanding scrambling defence. However, a similarly resolute defensive line at the opposite end of the field continually thwarted any attacking raids by the visitors.
Having cleared their bench in the final seven minutes, the Brumbies were forced to finish the match with 14 men when captain Stirling Mortlock was forced to leave the field with cramping.
The visitors finished the match on a high when replacement lock Peter Kimlin took an aerial route to the try line, when he dived over the top of the ruck to score his maiden Super 14 try with one minute remaining.
