Brumbies flog Jaguares to stretch conference lead

Sat, May 27, 2017, 11:24 PM
Sam Phillips
by Sam Phillips
The Brumbies have one foot in the finals after a huge second half brought up a bonus point try over the Jaguares in Buenos Aires. It is the second win on the road for the Brumbies who now have a nine point lead atop of the Aussie Conference.

The Brumbies have flogged the Jaguares 39-15 to complete a rare overseas double and all but seal an Australian Conference title.

It was a remarkable performance from the Brumbies - their best this year.

It certainly appears to be the performance that will secure a relatively unexpected conference title for Stephen Larkham's side.

The forwards, through Allan Alaalatoa, Sam Carter and Scott Fardy, were dominant.Allan Alaalatoa was superb this morning. Photo: Getty ImagesThey controlled the set piece, won the battle of the breakdown and provided the platform upon which Tom Banks and Aidan Toua flourished.

They made just one handling error in 80 minutes of rugby - a statistic that paints the picture as to the complete nature of this performance.

The five percent of the match the Jaguares controlled largely came in the opening exchanges, as they registered an early penalty to hit the scoreboard first.

But it was one way traffic from that point forward, as the Brumbies showed clean hands from 1 to 15, ran hard, straight lines that put the Jaguares line under the pump and were subsequently rewarded.

Carter was the first to trouble the scorers for the visitors with a trademark Brumbies rolling maul try but the Banks double that followed was filled with flair.

After a super strong scrum, Joe Powell found Banks at top speed out the back, with Tevita Kuridrani drawing two defenders with a decoy line.Tevita Kuridrani played his part this morning. Photo: AFPThe fullback showed a clean pair of heels to burn the Jaguares and go over untouched.

No more than two minutes had passed before Banks was in again.

After the home side made a meal of a regulation high ball, Chris Alcock cleaned up the crumbs and sent a perfect grubber Banks' way, who collected it and fell over the line.

That opened up a 20-10 half-time lead, Tomas Lavanini barging his way over the line to keep the home side in touch.

Aidan Toua made a pair of clean, long line breaks to start the second half but wasn't able to link with his support.

That didn't matter much, though, as the visitors crossed again to open up an unassailable lead - this time through Henry Speight.

Andy Muirhead scored from a Wharenui Hawera grubber with 12 minutes to put what looked to be the icing on the cake.

But the rookie outside back crossed for a second half double to cap a superb performance from the Brumbies - one that their fans will remember proudly for a long time.

RESULT

Jaguares 15

Tries: Lavanini, Pagadizaval

Cons: Iglesias

Pens: Sanchez

Brumbies 39

Tries: Carter, Banks 2, Speight, Muirhead 2

Cons: Hawera 3

Pens: Hawera

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