Brumbies gallop to 11 straight home wins

The ACT Brumbies ground out a 20-3 win over South Africa's Central Cheetahs to stretch their unbeaten Super Rugby home run to 11 games in Canberra on Saturday. The well-drilled Brumbies controlled the rucks and mauls to beat the Cheetahs two tries to one to consolidate their lead at the top of Australia's conference. It was the Brumbies' seventh straight win over the Cheetahs in Canberra and continues their unbeaten run at home from early last season. I thought our defence was really good, particularly our maul defence and our one-on-one tackles Brumbies skipper Stephen Moore Meanwhile, the Waikato Chiefs had to come from behind to beat the Auckland Blues 23-16 in an untidy encounter at Waikato Stadium. And in Durban, the Canterbury Crusaders ran in eight tries to devour South Africa's Sharks 52-10 in an ill-tempered clash at King's Park. The last time the Brumbies lost at Canberra Stadium was against the Queensland Reds 27-17 in February last year. Inside-centre Christian Lealiifano finished with 15 points from a try, two conversions and two penalty goals, while lock Blake Enever plunged over for his first Super Rugby try. Joe Pietersen kicked the Cheetahs only points. The Brumbies, with David Pocock outstanding in the rucks and mauls, built up a 13-3 lead at half-time and were never in any danger against the Cheetahs, who slumped to their fifth straight loss. Lealiifano brushed aside a feeble tackle from fly-half Pietersen in just the fourth minute to score a soft try, before Enever powered over five minutes after the interval to tighten the Brumbies' grip on the match. The Brumbies' winning margin would have been greater but for a disputed disallowed try to Matt Toomua in the first half and Henry Speight losing the ball over the try line midway through the second half. "I think the biggest positive to come out of the game was our defence. They score 20 points a game on average so to keep them to three was massive," said Toomua. Skipper Stephen Moore praised the Brumbies' maul defence. "I thought our defence was really good, particularly our maul defence and our one-on-one tackles," he said. "It would have been nice to get the four tries for the bonus point, but sometimes that's the way the game goes." Cheetahs' captain Francois Uys said his team played well in patches. "Our accuracy let us down, we didn't really execute some of the plays and I think one or two opportunities didn't go our way," Uys said. "We tried to keep it a bit tight, but the Brumbies defended the maul extremely well, especially in the first half while we were on their goal line, and we didn't come away with any points and in the second half we were chasing the game." In Hamilton, the Chiefs looked to be running away with the game when they were up 10-0 inside the first 30 minutes only to find themselves down 13-10 early in the second half. But for the Blues it was a fleeting taste of being ahead which evaporated within five minutes when Aaron Cruden levelled the scores with a penalty, before Tom Marshall scored the game-breaking try. Chiefs captain Liam Messam said he knew when the Blues put their nose in front that his side needed to regain control. "We tried to use our forwards to do that and we got control back. The backs made some great decisions to put the ball down there and put them under pressure and that came off well for us," he said. The Chiefs have now won six of eight for the season while the Blues have played seven and lost seven. It was also the Chiefs' ninth consecutive win over their neighbours but it was a patchy performance. The Crusaders completed their romp despite the visitors at one stage being reduced to 12 players after three yellow cards in as many minutes just before half-time for prop Nepo Laulala, centre Kieron Fonotia and winger Nemani Nadolo. But that advantage for the home side was blown out the water when Sharks flanker Jan Deysel intentionally put his knee into the head of a Crusaders player on the ground and was red-carded before the break with his side trailing 28-3. The Crusaders were incisive and clinical after scoring two tries inside the first four minutes. The Sharks were never in the game, their lack of bite resulting in consecutive home losses. In a South Africa derby in Johannesburg, the Golden Lions snatched a 22-18 victory over the Northern Bulls. Agence France-Presse, Reuters

Brumbies gallop to 11 straight home wins

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Canberra side chalk up seventh win in a row over Central Cheetahs at fortress GIO Stadium

Canberra side chalk up seventh win in a row over Central Cheetahs at fortress GIO Stadium