Chiefs end Canberra hoodoo
The Chiefs broke their Canberra bogey in fine style by beating the Brumbies 42-28 in a try-scoring Super 14 extravaganza on Friday.
Last Updated: 04/04/08 12:45pm
The Chiefs broke their Canberra bogey in fine style by beating the Brumbies 42-28 in a try-scoring Super 14 extravaganza on Friday.
The New Zealand tourists had not won in the Australian capital since 1999 and continued their surge towards a place in the play-offs with a crucial bonus point win away from home.
The visitors scored six tries to the Brumbies' four - all of which were converted that gave both teams a deserved bonus point for their efforts.
Chiefs' pivot Stephen Donald (18 points for the match) was instrumental in guiding his team to their third victory on the trot as coach Ian Foster's troops continued their mid-season re-surgence.
The writing was on the wall once the hosts were left trailing 28-7 at half-time after the Chiefs had already secured a bonus point and were forced to play a game of catch-up against a side growing in confidence with every minute that ticked by.
The Chiefs arrived in Canberra having forgot their away kit, so the Brumbies were forced to switch to their white uniform.
The visitors may have forgotten to pack their relevant clothes, but it was the Brumbies that left their defence with the tackle bags after Sitiveni Sivivatu scored an opportunistic try as early as the seventh minute.
With nothing on, the All Black winger spotted a lack of cover on the Brumbies' line, toed the ball, gave chase and collected for the opening seven-pointer of the match.
Sivivatu was involved was again just three minutes later after taking the ball off a Chiefs' throw-in at the line-out. Showing tremendous pace off the mark, Sivivatu carved the Brumbies' would-be tacklers to shreds before passing inside to Callum Bruce for try number two.
Down 14-0, the Brumbies did tremendously well to strike back with a score of their own thanks to some brilliant work from the Smith brothers.
Dropped
George Smith made the initial break out after stepping inside one Chiefs' defender and outside the next before offloading to his supporting younger brother for a try under the sticks.
Stirling Mortlock slotted his first points for 2008 with the ensuing conversion after making a long-awaited return from injury.
The home side nearly scored again through yet another bustling burst by George Smith, but Mitchell Chapman couldn't hang on and dropped the ball over the line which was greeted by a big sigh from the Canberra Stadium crowd.
Donald was a luckier with his side's next try after ripping the ball from Tyrone Smith's arms in a tackle and galloped 40m for the Chiefs' third try with 25 minutes gone on the clock.
The Chiefs' fly-half bagged his brace ten minutes later following an initial break from half-back partner Brendon Leonard that was supported by a controlled effort by his team-mates to keep the ball alive.
With the Brumbies defence stretched and Sivivatu on his outside, Donald drew his man but kept on running and ran some more - again showing deceptive pace - to collect his side's fourth-try bonus point.
The sin-binning of Bruce on the stroke of half-time gave the Brumbies some hope in the second half.
But despite having the wealth of possession early on, tries were hard to come by as the Chiefs withstood repeated attacks close to the line.
In fact, it was the Chiefs that hit back against the run of play with Viliame Waqaseduadua coming off the line, stealing the ball from Josh Holmes to dash 60m and go over untouched.
A better performance in the second half, saw the Brumbies get within 14, with Holmes and Peter Playford scoring in the last 20 minutes, but a try with eight minutes left against the run of play to Jamie Nutbrown silenced any chance of a comeback.
Holmes crossed on the siren to earn his side a consolation try and all-important bonus point for their efforts.
