Brumbies Leave it Late

The ACT Brumbies have had to wait until the final minute before securing a thrilling 27-21 victory over the Bulls in their Super 14 match this morning at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.

The Bulls looked to have wrapped up the vital four points when fly half Derick Hougaard landed a massive 55 metre penalty goal to put the home side ahead 21-20 in the 77th minute, but the drama would not end there with ACT centre Stirling Mortlock crashing over for a try in the final minute to secure an extraordinary win for the Brumbies.

"We couldn't be happier with the effort and the intensity the boys showed for 80 minutes," said Mortlock.

“We almost gave it away, but I'm ecstatic to get away with the win.”

ACT dominated the game for long periods courtesy of some fine work from flanker George Smith at the breakdown, but they were not able to pull away from the Bulls as every infraction was punished to the fullest with sharpshooter Hougaard nailing six penalty goals and a drop goal to keep his side in the contest.

The Bulls plan of playing the game in the Brumbies half worked wonders early in the match with Hougaard’s three penalty goals edging the home side ahead 9-3, but in the 34th minute a Matt Giteau break led to a stunning try to winger Clyde Rathbone, which Mortlock duly converted to put the Brumbies in front 10-9.

That lead didn’t last long though as Hougaard sent the Bulls into the main break with a two point lead courtesy of a long range field goal just before the whistle was blown for half time (12-10).

Both teams traded penalty goals upon resumption of play, but it was the Brumbies who broke the game open midway through the second half with second rower Daniel Heenan finishing off another great team try to help the visitors take a five point advantage going into the final 20 minutes of play (20-15).

Another two penalty goals to Hougaard had the 41,000 fans in attendance dancing in the aisles, but they were silenced when the visitors pieced together a magnificent passage of play that saw half a dozen players handle the ball before Giteau gave the final pass to Mortlock who crashed through two defenders to score the winning try.

The win lifts the Brumbies to the top of the Super 14 ladder with eight points, while a disappointed Bulls side secured a bonus point for losing by seven points or less, but after the game that meant little in a match they should have won.

"It's disappointing," captain Fourie du Preez said.

"We should have won the game, but, we made too many mistakes and just couldn't keep the ball."

The Brumbies will look to continue their fine start to the season when they play the Stormers in Cape Town on Friday night, while the Bulls will try to bounce back against the NSW Waratahs on Saturday night in Pretoria.

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