The Western Force have booked their spot in the Super Rugby AUS Final with a 46-35 win over the ACT Brumbies in Perth.
The pre-match discussion revolved around the return of Wallaby Ben Donaldson; however, it was another Force flyhalf, Max Burey, who took centre stage.
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Burey blitzed the Brumbies to score a sensational solo try and set up several others to give the Force a 31-14 lead.
This awoke Stephen Larkham’s side, who put on 21 unanswered points either side of the break for the lead.
But it was Burey that had the last laugh, beating two and chipping for himself to forward roll and score with 12 minutes to go to secure the victory and a place in the decider in a fortnight.
The Force and Brumbies took full advantage of the perfect Perth conditions as they engaged in a shootout.
The visitors started perfectly after Ollie Sapsford leapt high to claim the restart for Toby Macpherson to burst clear, with impressive prop Lington Ieli crossing for the opener, followed by scrum half Klayton Thorn.
However, the red-hot Burey was everywhere as he continued his breakout tournament.
Burey produced an excellent kick for a 50-22 to set up local product Justin Landman before putting a pinpoint kick on Viliame Fine’s chest.
But the highlight of the burst was a spectacular solo run in the 22nd minute, collecting the ball well inside his half as he beat three defenders and turned the fullback inside-out to score under the posts for the lead.
The visitors’ scrum was fuelling their momentum, halted by the Force’s spectacular counter work. This was on full display when George Poolman snatched an interception from a loose pass and was pulled down right before the line, popping the pass for Will Harris.
Following this, Darcy Swain capitalised on a quick lineout from Fine, which opened the space for quick hands for the ex-Brumby to slice open his old side for a 31-14 lead.
The Brumbies stemmed the flow of points and stole momentum with a sharp set play that put Kadin Pritchard into space, with Shane Wilcox finishing over right before half-time to reduce the margin to ten.
Forwards Toby MacPherson and Rhys van Nek crossed to begin the second half to give the visitors the lead as the game headed into a tense final quarter.
The Force had the chance to respond with two lineouts on the Brumbies’ five-metre line, with handling errors ending their chances.
In the end, it had to be Burey as the playmaker crossed for his second to restore the lead with another piece of individual brilliance.
A yellow card to Tuaina Taii Tualima with nine minutes left dented the Brumbies’ hopes of a comeback as Burey and Donaldson linked up to set up Mac Grealy and Rohan Leahy to seal the bonus point win.
Western Force 46 (Burey 2, Swain, Harris, Fine, Grealy, Leahy, Landman tries; Burey 3 cons) def ACT Brumbies 35 (Thorn, Alatini, Wilcox, MacPherson, van Nek tries; Meredith 5 cons)
