Brumbies pay dear price for win
The Brumbies continued their strong start to the 2015 season, after comfortably defeating the Force 27-15 in Canberra on Friday.
The win, which moved the Australian franchise to the top of the standings for at least 24 hours, came at a price.
Wallaby loose forward Scott Fardy suffered a shoulder injury and is a doubtful starter ahead of two key games – away to the Reds and Waratahs – in the next fortnight.
Fardy's potential absence would be a huge blow, but the Brumbies are hopeful a medical assessment on Saturday will clear him of a serious injury and he will be fit to play the Reds in Brisbane.
Fullback Robbie Coleman also limped from the field, but David Pocock's looming return could offset any injuries as the former Wallaby captain returns to full training next week.
The Brumbies led from start to finish as they put four tries past the struggling Force to gain an important bonus point win.
The win moves the Brumbies into top spot on the competition ladder on 15 points, but the Stormers have the chance to overtake the Brumbies when they come up against the Sharks on Saturday.
Whereas the Brumbies are soaring, the Force after topping last year's champions the Waratahs in Round One, have failed to win a game since and desperately need a win next week when they host the Rebels.
In his first game starting at home since returning from injury, Brumbies captain, Stephen Moore, got through 54 minutes before being replaced and was happy with the team's winning performance, particularly the maul, which chewed up plenty of metres for the home side on their way to a bonus point.
"These Australian derbies are always very tight and toughly contested so I'm happy to get away with a five-point win," Moore said.
"It's good to win again at home and we've got two tough away games coming up," Moore added.
"Yeah it [the maul] went okay. We've worked hard on it, but we don't want to overdo it.
"I thought we were a bit scratchy coming out of our half so we're going to have to work on that during the week. As we go forward we're going to have to be a bit tidier than that.
"But I did think our defence was really good, we fought hard for each other we stuck to our systems and we kept them to 15 points, which if you do that you'll win most of your games."
