Rugby-Blues rout Rebels, Brumbies stay in the chase with statement win

The ACT Brumbies beat New Zealand opposition for the third straight week to keep in touch with the competition-leading Auckland Blues as the race for playoff positions heated up in round 12 of Super Rugby over the weekend. The Blues hammered the Melbourne Rebels 71-28 at Eden Park on Friday to open the round but the Brumbies and New South Wales Waratahs both won on the eastern shores of the Tasman Sea on Saturday to restore pride for Australia.

The ACT Brumbies beat New Zealand opposition for the third straight week to keep in touch with the competition-leading Auckland Blues as the race for playoff positions heated up in round 12 of Super Rugby over the weekend.

The Blues hammered the Melbourne Rebels 71-28 at Eden Park on Friday to open the round but the Brumbies and New South Wales Waratahs both won on the eastern shores of the Tasman Sea on Saturday to restore pride for Australia. The Brumbies were at their clinical best as they outmuscled the Waikato Chiefs 38-28 in Hamilton to stay two points behind the Blues in second place ahead of the Canterbury Crusaders, who romped to a 53-15 victory over the Western Force in Perth.

Australian teams were only able to win two of 25 matches against New Zealand sides last season so three victories from three matches against trans-Tasman rivals this year have marked the Brumbies out as genuine championship contenders. "I said to the boys 'great teams win in New Zealand'," said coach Dan McKellar.

"Not that we're a great team but we're a team on the rise. We'll certainly enjoy it but we've got the Crusaders next week so it doesn't get any easier." The Waratahs came from 17-0 down to beat Moana Pasifika 26-20 in Auckland to register their first Super Rugby win in New Zealand in more than seven years.

Outstanding centre Izaia Perese scored one of his team's four tries as the Waratahs, who stunned the Crusaders last week, continued their revival after going winless in 2021. "We could have potentially been perceived as a bit flat after the high we went through (last week)," said coach Darren Coleman. "Obviously you're concerned at 17-0, but I felt if we could string phases together and passes we could have scored enough points to win it. They were clearly the best team we've come up against at the breakdown. We just played tough." The victory sent the Waratahs into fifth place behind the Chiefs, leapfrogging the Queensland Reds after last year's Super Rugby AU champions lost a third straight match to New Zealand opposition with a 27-19 loss to the Otago Highlanders.

The Wellington Hurricanes, who lost to the Brumbies last weekend, revived their campaign with a 67-5 demolition of the Australia-based Fijian Drua in the final match of the round in the New Zealand capital on Sunday.

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