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VIDEO: Brumbies stay in play-off hunt

VIDEO: Brumbies stay in play-off hunt

SUPER RUGBY REPORT: The Brumbies were made to work hard, but managed to secure a bonus-point win to keep their play-off hopes alive.

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Outscoring the ever-improving Sunwolves by seven tries to four, the Brumbies beat the Japanese team 41-31 in an entertaining affair in Canberra on Sunday.

The Brumbies defied national coach Michael Cheika’s request to rest their Wallabies forward trio David Pocock, Scott Sio and Allan Alaalatoa ahead of this week’s Test against Ireland.

But the trio were brought off uninjured midway through the second half to make their way on a late flight to Brisbane for Saturday’s opening Test.

The bonus-point win took the Brumbies to 25 points and trailing the Waratahs by 10 points in third place the Australian conference, while it was the Sunwolves’ 11th loss in 13 games this season.

“We came here to try and improve our game and felt we did that in patches against the Sunwolves, who are really good at just sticking in and they wouldn’t go away. It was a nice test for our group,” Brumbies skipper Christian Lealiifano said.

Pocock scored off a pick and drive close to the Sunwolves line in the eighth minute.

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The Brumbies were over again four minutes later with blindside flank Lachlan McCaffrey backing up a break from scrum-half Joe Powell.

Fullback Tom Banks then beat two tackles after steaming on to a Powell pass to post the Brumbies’ third try for a 19-3 lead after 28 minutes.

The Sunwolves hit back nearing half-time when Jason Emery charged down Lealiifano’s clearing kick to score and trail 19-10 at the interval.

The Sunwolves scored again just two minutes after the resumption when prop Hencus van Wyk scored his first Super Rugby try after a break from flyhalf Hayden Parker.

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Parker’s conversion put the Sunwolves just two points behind the Brumbies 19-17.

But the Brumbies responded quickly with wing Andy Muirhead scoring in the left corner off a McCaffrey pass to edge out to a seven-point advantage.

Wing Henry Speight scored his 38th Super Rugby try finishing off a passing rush to kick the Brumbies away to a 29-17 lead midway through the half.

Wallabies Pocock and Sio were brought off after 55 minutes ahead of the Ireland Test in Brisbane.

Powell again gave the last pass for replacement Tom Cusack to register the Brumbies’ sixth try as another Wallabies forward Alaalatoa was replaced with 20 minutes left.

Semisi Masirewa was prominent before openside flank Ed Quirk crashed over for the Sunwolves’ third try to close the gap to 12 points 34-22 inside the final 10 minutes.

Speight made it safe for the Brumbies with his second try five minutes from time, but replacement wing Kai Ishii scored a consolation try for the Sunwolves in the final minute.

Man of the match: Willie Britz and Ed Quirk were the Sunwolves’ most productive players. David Pocock was, as always, very prominent. Joe Powell had one of his best games, while big runners like Tevita Kuridrani and Henry Speight also caused the Sunwolves defence massive problems. Our award goes to Brumbies flank Lachlan McCaffrey for his high workrate and allround impressive performance.

The scorers:

For the Brumbies:
Tries: Pocock, McCaffrey, Banks, Muirhead, Speight 2, Cusack
Cons: Lealiifano 2, Hawera

For the Sunwolves:
Tries: Emery, Van Wyk, Quirk, Ishii
Cons: Parker 4
Pen: Parker

Yellow card: Matt Lucas (Brumbies, 79 – foul play, dangerous tackle)

You may want to listen to this:

Brumbies: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Andy Muirhead, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 David Pocock, 6 Lachlan Mccaffrey, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Blake Enever, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Connal Mcinerney, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 TBC, 17 Nic Mayhew, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 Richie Arnold, 20 Tom Cusack, 21 Matt Lucas, 22 Wharenui Hawera, 23 Andrew Smith.

Sunwolves: 15 Robbie Robinson, 14 Semisi Masirewa, 13 Jason Emery, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Sione Teaupa, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Keisuke Uchida, 8 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 7 Edward Quirk, 6 Willem Britz, 5 Sam Wykes, 4 James Moore, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Craig Millar (captain).
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze , 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Nikoloz Khatiashvili, 19 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 20 Fetuani Lautaimi, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Gerhard van den Heever, 23 Kai Ishii.

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Will Houston (Australia), Graham Cooper (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

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