Auckland: The ACT Brumbies are perfectly positioned to charge towards a drought-breaking finals appearance after a successful revenge mission to Auckland on Saturday night.
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In an ugly and gritty match, the Brumbies stabilised their playoff dream with a hard-fought victory over the Auckland Blues at Eden Park.
The 20-13 triumph helped ease some of the pain and nightmare memory of the way the Blues crushed the Brumbies’ finals dream last season in a last-round choke.
But more importantly the seven-point win ends two months of indifferent form and will restore confidence as the Brumbies close in on their first finals appearance since 2004.
With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Brumbies sit at the top of the Australian conference.
Their next two games are at Canberra Stadium against the Wellington Hurricanes and the Melbourne Rebels before they finish their campaign on the road against the Western Force.
All three teams are ranked well below the Brumbies.
But after they stumbled in the last game before the finals last year, Brumbies coach Jake White is refusing to look too far ahead.
“We probably feel we’ve jumped over the hurdle and we’re back on track and there was pressure this week … we probably felt it could go the same way as last year,” White said.
“Thank goodness [the players] stepped up to the plate and got a result.
“The one thing we’ve spoken about at the Brumbies is the ability to learn quicker than our opposition … the way we closed out that game, the way we beat the Blues after last year … there’s a massive amount of learning in this group.
“The job’s not done. This is a tough competition. It doesn’t get too much tougher than playing against the Blues at Eden Park so you have to praise them for that. But the job’s not done.”
The Brumbies were the best at negotiating torrid conditions in New Zealand as the rain and wind limited the game to a possession and territory contest instead of open rugby.
It meant the Brumbies had to win on guts and determination rather than relying on individual brilliance.
The Brumbies have failed to win tight games in the past two months, winning just two of their eight matches.
The Brumbies had also lost their past two in a row and it made the Blues contest even more important as the race to the finals heats up.
The NSW Waratahs have fallen behind on the ladder after their loss to the Melbourne Rebels while the Queensland Reds will try to cut the Brumbies' lead when they played the Cape Town Stormers in South Africa on Sunday morning.
But if the Brumbies have learnt anything from their last-round meltdown last season, it's that they can’t afford to drop off in the remaining three games.
Brumbies captain Ben Mowen said beating the Blues was a “turning-point game”.
“I really liked the maturity of the group this week, we spoke about returning to the detail,” Mowen said.
“We had to play to a game plan dictated to by the conditions, we scrapped, we stayed in the contest and forced turnovers … it was an effort game, that’s all.
“There was no glitzy backline play, it was just grind and trust the systems. That’s the game that gives you huge belief.”
Blues skipper Ali Williams – who retired from international rugby on Friday – said his team deserved an “uppercut” for its first-half performance and “lacked passion and desire”.
Nic White got the only Brumbies’ try while Rene Ranger got the Blues back in the match with a five-pointer in the second half.
Christian Lealiifano booted five penalties to give the Brumbies a seven-point win. But it was Nic White and flyhalf Matt Toomua who controlled the game in the first half with some sublime kicking.
ACT BRUMBIES 20 (Nic White try; Christian Lealiifano 5 penalties) bt AUCKLAND BLUES 13 (Rene Ranger try; Chris Noakes, Baden Kerr penalties; Chris Noakes conversion) at Eden Park last night. Referee: Lourens van der Merwe. Crowd: 10,811.
