Lightning strikes spark chaotic Super W scenes as ACT Brumbies fall to Queensland Reds

If only the ACT Brumbies could really blame them after lightning strikes plunged their Super W clash with the Queensland Reds into chaos at Lang Park on Friday night.

Play was delayed at the 59-minute mark due to player safety concerns after stadium officials noted three lightning strikes within five kilometres of the venue in a short timeframe.

If the game was to be cancelled, the leading team would be declared the winner. You can understand why the Brumbies were desperate for play to resume as they trailed 20-10. Play resumed after about 30 minutes, giving the Brumbies one more roll of the dice, but the result was the same.

Again, the ACT had come up short. Just five points separated the Brumbies from the Fijiana Drua, and it took a late try for the NSW Waratahs to breathe easy last week.

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With that comes a degree of frustration for Brumbies coach Scott Fava, who like those before him, has coached his side to the cusp of wins against Australian rugby powerhouses only to fall short.

"It's hard, it's not something that we would have in our everyday comp so the adjustment to that was something that was crucial to our game," Brumbies captain Siokapesi Palu said on Stan when asked about the impact of the delay.

"It showed when we came on in that second half, it was just the silly mistakes, we weren't able to switch on. That's definitely a work-on moving forward."

The Brumbies' fortunes are expected to turn around when they host the Melbourne Rebels and then travel to face the Western Force to end the regular season. Two wins could set the Brumbies on course for a semi-final appearance, where they could meet Queensland again.

The Brumbies were bolstered by the addition of New Zealand's World Cup-winning prop Amy Rule - but the Reds had called upon their own reinforcements from across the Tasman.

Rule's Matatu teammate Diane Hiini started at scrumhalf. Her halves partner was Hurricanes Poua playmaker Carys Dallinger, while Hurricanes Poua prop Cristo Tofa came off the bench to add more class to an unbeaten title contender.

Queensland's Cecilia Smith and Brumbies fullback Faitala Moleka had traded penalties from the outset. ACT back-rower Tabua Tuinakauvadra scored the opening try before a piece of individual brilliance from Reds outside centre Briana Dascombe levelled the ledger once more.

"If anyone is going to win it, it's going to be our forwards," Brumbies scrumhalf Jay Huriwai told Stan on the stroke of half-time.

As it turned out, it was the Queensland backs - and for a moment, it seemed like it was the weather gods.

"It's that skill execution that's actually letting us down," Palu said.

"But if you compare our game to the previous years, we're literally laying the foundations for the years to come. We've just got to play the game as it is now."

AT A GLANCE

Super W: QUEENSLAND REDS 20 (Briana Dascombe 2 tries; Cecilia Smith 2 cons; Smith 2 pens) bt ACT BRUMBIES 10 (Tabua Tuinakauvadra try; Faitala Moleka con; Moleka pen) at Lang Park.

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