1. Scott Sio Injury
The Wallabies bookend came off midway through the first half and didn’t return. The prop had his right elbow and right knee heavily strapped but was the key man in the Brumbies early scrum dominance. Stephen Larkham will want Sio fit and firing for the visit of the high-flying Chiefs on Saturday at GIO Stadium.
2. David Pocock. Need we say more?
The Oxford Dictionary needs to insert ‘Pocock’ into its next edition. Put the description as ‘not-human’ and it can be easily used in day-to-day situations, for example, “wow mate, that skateboarding move was Pocock”. Ok, skateboarding might not be the best example but you understand… Back to the real Pocock for a second, and he was immense against the Cheetahs. Six turnovers, that’s right SIX forced penalties at the breakdown. He puts his head in places that I wouldn’t put an old shoe.
3. Fardy is a freak
If David Pocock is Batman, well then Scott Fardy is… also Batman.. The flanker is no longer a support act. From disrupting the Cheetahs maul to terrorising the breakdown and pinching opposition lineouts, Fardy did it all. His tandem work with Pocock is a sight to behold, with the pair tag-teaming breakdown after breakdown. Pocock with the tackle, Fardy with the steal. Fardy with the tackle, Pocock with the pilfer.
4. Discipline issue
Glen Jackson’s whistle was worked overtime in Bloemfontein with the Brumbies conceding 10 penalties in the first 44 minutes - as well as a yellow card to Sam Carter. The men from Canberra eventually went on to give away 16 penalties in total, leaving Larkham with plenty to ponder on the long flight home. Can a championship contender be so ill-disciplined?
5. Brumbies can scrap it with the best of them
Ok - maybe the Cheetahs aren’t the best going around but after a downpour at half-time, the game turned into an arm wrestle. The Brumbies showed some real fight in the second week of their African tour and played to the conditions much better. The second half wasn’t a spectator’s dream but the Brumbies would have had one eye on the table-topping Chiefs.
