The ACT Brumbies overwhelmed the Queensland Reds 36-0 on Saturday in Canberra, Australia, all but clinching a semifinal berth in rugby’s Super 14 competition. But it may have come at a cost.
Captain Stirling Mortlock, who scored two tries, and five-eighth Gene Fairbanks were replaced at halftime after aggravating existing injuries. Both face time on the sidelines in the crucial weeks leading to the finals.
”I think I jinxed myself,” Mortlock said of his shoulder injury. ”Last week I had a pad on that really stood out and I didn’t wear it tonight, and I got a knock on it and it felt pretty hard.”
Fairbanks suffered a recurrence of a knee injury.
Centre Matt Giteau, who was making a comeback from a knee injury, also finished the game limping, but with the rest of the Brumbies midfield already off the field he was forced to continue.
Mortlock, Fairbanks and Giteau scored four tries among them to help the Brumbies to a vital bonus-point win.
Fairbanks crossed first before Mortlock posted his first-half double — as well as slotting two conversions and a penalty goal — to give the Brumbies a commanding 22-0 lead.
Giteau clinched the match with his try nine minutes into the second half and Patrick Phibbs touched down late after replacing halfback George Gregan, who was given a rest after delivering the last pass for three of the Brumbies’ tries.
Mortlock’s 17-point total took him past the 800-point barrier in Super 12 or 14 rugby.
The 28-year-old Mortlock has 809 points, with Andrew Mehrtens (990), Matt Burke (959) and Tony Brown (887) the only other players ahead of him.
Hurricanes beat Chiefs
All Blacks hooker Andrew Hore scored three tries on a damp Saturday to mark his 50th match for the Wellington Hurricanes with a 35-10 win over the Waikato Chiefs in Wellington, New Zealand.
The Hurricanes played effective 10-man rugby in the first half, dominating possession and territory and driving Hore over the line in the 16th minute to build a 16-3 half-time lead. Flyhalf David Holwell converted the try and kicked three penalties for an important personal contribution of 11 points.
The Chiefs reversed the Hurricanes’ advantages in the third quarter, camping in the attacking half and using possession and field position to create a try to former All Blacks centre Sam Tuitupou that cut the lead to 16-10.
The Hurricanes re-established control in the final 20 minutes, going back to an unspectacular but productive style based around mobile mauls that brought further tries to Hore in the 64th and 70th minutes.
On both occasions, the Hurricanes mauled the ball to the goal line and Hore picked his moment to detach and surge through the goal-line defence.
”I don’t think I’ve scored three tries in a match since I used to play in the backyard with my brothers,” Hore said. ”As a team, I think this match is probably the first time we’ve stepped up and done the basics so well. We held on to the ball, stayed in the right half of the field and scored tries and kicked penalties when they were on offer.”
A try to fullback Shannon Paku on full-time clinched a vital bonus point for the Hurricanes, which ensured they will remain in third place on the table and a likely semifinal place through the 12th of the regular season’s 14 rounds.
”We put in a lot of hard work out there tonight and we were definitely looking for that bonus point,” said Hurricanes captain Rodney So’oialo.
”We knew that in these conditions we just had to keep grinding away, especially in the second half. We had to work hard to win in conditions like these. We put a lot of pressure on our tight forwards tonight and they did the job.”
The Chiefs slipped out of play-off contention with their fifth loss of the season.
”We had a good period after half-time, but after closing the gap on them we made a mistake, gave them a penalty and they got away again,” said Chiefs captain Marty Holah. ”I think the difference out there was the way they kicked the ball. They did that very effectively, while I think we kicked for the sake of kicking.” — Sapa-AP