Brumbies' fortress stands firm
The Brumbies scored a bonus-point (27-15) win over the Western Force in Canberra on Friday, reaffirming their championship credentials.
It was the Brumbies' 10th consecutive home win, while they also collected four-try bonus points in their last five match in Canberra.
The result sees the Brumbies go to the top of the standings, for at least the next 24 hours.
The win continues the Canberra-based side's strong start to the Super Rugby season, with their third win in four outings, while the Force slipped to their third loss of the campaign.
The Brumbies were always in control of the Australian derby with a strong set-piece, which rewarded them with three tries.
Lock Rory Arnold powered over off a maul in the seventh minute and wing Joe Tomane finished off a passing rush six minutes later.
In between, Wallabies wing Nick Cummins scored on his first match back for Force from a stint in Japan.
But prop Ben Alexander scored the Brumbies' third try in the 23rd minute muscling over close to the try-line.
The Brumbies led 19-8 at half-time, but extended their lead in the 49th minute with a fourth try by scrumhalf Nic White off the back of a rolling maul to clinch the four-try bonus point.
Lock Steve Mafi burrowed over for the Force's second try, but Christian Lealiifano kept the Force comfortably at bay with a 63rd-minute penalty.
The Perth-based Force had plenty of possession in the final stages, but could not break the Brumbies' defensive line.
"I thought our defence was really good, the Force kept trying but we have to be a fair bit better than that going forward," Brumbies skipper Stephen Moore said.
"We have worked really hard on our rolling maul, we don't want to overdo it but it's pleasing to get some results from it on the field."
Force skipper Sam Wykes was proud of the effort, but disappointed in the outcome.
"We fought right to the end to try and get something out of this game," Wykes said.
"The Brumbies are a quality team and they showed that in their defence tonight."
Man of the match: Lock Steve Mafi the Western Force's most productive player. Brumbies second row forward Rory Arnold also deserves an honourable mention, for hard graft, while Joe Tomane made plenty of metres. However, our award goes to the Brumbies' livewire scrumhalf Nic White – for his controlled performance.
The scorers:
For the Brumbies:
Tries: Arnold, Tomane, Alexander, White
Cons: Lealiifano 2
Pen: Lealiifano
For the Western Force:
Tries: Cummins, Mafi
Con: Holmes
Pen: Holmes
Teams:
Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Jarred Butler, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 Blake Enever, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 James Dargaville, 23 Jesse Mogg.
Western Force: 15 Luke Morahan. 14 Marcel Brache. 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Solomoni Jnr Rasolea, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Brynard Stander, 5 Steve Mafi, 4 Sam Wykes (captain), 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pekahou Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Oliver Hoskins, 19 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20 Kane Koteka, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Sias Ebersohn, 23 Luke Burton.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Lees (Australia)
TMO: Ian Smith (Australia)
Next up, the @Reds in Brisbane, @NSWWaratahs in Sydney, bye week, then home @giostadium to take on the @CheetahsRugby April 4. See you then!
— Brumbies (@BrumbiesRugby) March 6, 2015
Crowd of 10,799 here at @giostadium. Thanks fans! #BRUvFOR
— Brumbies (@BrumbiesRugby) March 6, 2015
