Waratahs win close encounter in CanberrannSuper Rugby: The Waratahs come from behind to seal a three point win over the ACT BrumbiesnnThe Wa...
Waratahs win close encounter in CanberrannSuper Rugby: The Waratahs come from behind to seal a three point win over the ACT BrumbiesnnThe Waratahs earned a fourth straight victory over the Brumbies by beating the Canberra side 10-13 at the GIO Stadium on Friday.nnThe Waratahs beat the Brumbies 13-28 in Round six earlier this season so the victory means that the Waratahs have done the double on the Brumbies for two years running.nnThe result in front of a 17563 strong crowd provisionally moves the Waratahs up into the top six on 31 points while the Brumbies hold on to their second place with 32 points thanks to the losing bonus point.nnThe fourth straight Waratahs victory is the first time in the New South Wales side's history having won three in a row on two occassions in the past.nnThe result tightens up the Australian Super Rugby conference and heightens the pressure in the race for the top spot in the conference which guarantees a place in the play offs.nnBoth sides scored a try each but it was the Waratahs' superior defence and goal kicking that earned them a crucial win over their fierce rivals following their stormy 28-13 win in Sydney earlier in the season.nnThe Brumbies had their chances as they dominated possession and territory in the second half, but the Waratahs' defence was unyielding, even when they were reduced to 14 men late in the second term.nnWallabies winger Rob Horne was yellow-carded for illegally attempting to disrupt a pressing Brumbies driving maul close to the Waratahs try-line in the 65th minute.nnYet the Sydneysiders tenaciously thwarted the Brumbies, who threw away a couple of scoring chances by taking the wrong options.nnWinger Joe Tomane scored first for the Brumbies in the eighth minute off a long pass from Robbie Coleman which gave him a clear run to the left corner.nnAdam Ashley-Cooper levelled the scores six minutes later when he scored against his old club off a long pass from scrum-half Nick Phipps.nnThe remainder of the points came from penalty goals.nnChristian Leali'ifano put the Brumbies in front 10-7 at half-time with a 28th minute penalty.nnBut the Waratahs came from behind in the second half to claim victory with a long-range penalty from Kurtley Beale and another penalty goal from Bernard Foley.nnThe Brumbies turned down the opportunity for Leali'ifano to kick for a draw in the final minute, electing instead to go for a lineout and a driving maul, which the Waratahs successfully defended.nn"We didn't get much flow in attack, but we defended really well, even with a man down, and that's where we won the game, we really fought hard together," Waratahs skipper Dave Dennis said.nnThe Waratahs kept the ball in play for as much as possible to restrict the Brumbies using their potent driving maul.nn"That's our way of showing respect for their driving maul by keeping the ball in play and when it was in touch I thought we defended well as well," he said.nnBrumbies skipper Stephen Moore said his team had plenty of chances to win the game.nn"There wasn't much in it, but I'm proud of the effort the boys put in," Moore said.nn"We had a lot of chances in the second half and weren't good enough to take a few of them and that's disappointing."nnNext week the Brumbies face the Stormers in Cape Town and the Waratahs travel to Perth to take on the Western Force.nnFinal Score Brumbies 10 (10) Waratahs 13 (7)nnScorersnnBrumbies nTries - J.TomanenPen - C.LealiifanonCon - C.LealiifanonDrop - nCards -nnWaratahs nTries - A.Ashley-CoopernPen - K.Beale, B.FoleynCon - B.FoleynDrop - nCards -R.Horne (yellow 64th min)nnMatch OfficialsnReferee: Glen JacksonnAssistant Ref 1:Matt O'BriennAssistant Ref 2:Frederico AnselminTMO : George AyoubnnTeamsnnBrumbiesnn1. JP Smith , 2. Stephen Moore (C) , 3. Ben Alexander , 4. Jordan Smiler , 5. Sam Carter , 6. Scott Fardy , 7. David Pocock , 8. Ita Vaea , 9. Michael Dowsett , 10. Christian Lealiifano , 11. Joe Tomane , 12. Robbie Coleman , 13. Tevita Kuridrani , 14. Henry Speight , 15. Jesse MoggnnReplacements: 16. Josh Mann-Rea , 17. Allan Alaalatoa , 18. Ruan Smith , 19. Blake Enever , 20. Jarrad Butler , 21. Joe Powell , 22. James Dargaville , 23. Nigel Ah Wong.nnWaratahsnn1.Benn Robinson,2.Tatafu Polota-Nau,3.Sekope Kepu,4.Will Skelton,5.David Dennis (C),6.Jacques Potgieter,7.Michael Hooper (VC),8.Wycliff Palu,9.Nick Phipps,10.Bernard Foley,11.Rob Horne,12.Kurtley Beale,13.Adam Ashley-Cooper (VC),14.Peter Betham,1 5Israel FolaunnReplacements:16. Tolu Latu,17. Jeremy Tilse,18. Paddy Ryan,19. Mitchell Chapman,20. Stephen Hoiles,21. Pat McCutcheon,22. Brendan McKibbin,23. Matt Carraro,24. Taqele NaiyaravoronnSource : FOX Sports Less
