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Red-hot Brumbies dispatch toothless Sharks to set-up novel semi-final pairing

Brumbies' Joe Powell makes a break to score a try during the Super Rugby quarter-final on Saturday versus the Sharks (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

The Brumbies are into their first Super Rugby semi-final in four years after dispatching the Sharks 38-13 at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

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It marked the first time the Brumbies have won seven straight games in a season and they now travel to Argentina and face the Jaguares for a spot in the final.

The Brumbies could host their first decider since 2004 if the Hurricanes beat the Crusaders next Saturday, but first they must overcome the gruelling trip to South America.

The Australian conference winners have won nine of their past 10 games and their red-hot form continued in freezing conditions against the Sharks as they scored three superb first-half tries.

It laid the platform for victory as the Sharks came into the game in the second half, but the home side’s defence was resolute in front of 11,112 fans.

“I’m really proud of the boys. The Sharks threw a lot at us and the way the boys kept digging deep for each other was special,” said Brumbies captain Christian Leali’ifano.

“The forwards have been amazing all year. They were challenged again tonight and stepped up and provided a great platform for us.

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“The way these boys handle whatever is thrown at them is amazing. We have a big job ahead of us but we will prepare well.”

Brumbies back row Pete Samu scored in the first minute after receiving an inside ball from lock Rory Arnold and dashing 35 metres to cross between the posts.

Curwin Bosch then got the Sharks on the board with a 50-metre penalty, but Arnold had his second try assist on 10 minutes when he put Henry Speight into the corner for a 14-3 lead.

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The teams traded penalty goals before the Sharks conceded their first rolling maul try of the season when Samu bagged a double on 24 minutes.

The Brumbies held a 24-6 lead at the break but the visitors closed the gap when Andre Esterhuizen barged through Irae Simone to score in the 56th minute.

Joe Powell iced the game when he dummied from the ruck and ran 20 metres to score in the 72nd minute while his replacement, reserve half-back Matt Lucas, finished the job with a try in the final minute.

The Jaguares are also in-form having won 10 of their past 11 games – the Brumbies most recent loss came against the Argentine side in Buenos Aires eight weeks ago.

– AAP

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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