11:45 PM
By COLIN KENNEDY
BRUMBIES 51 WARATAHS 10
The Brumbies had to much class for the NSW Waratahs when they crushed the home side's hopes of their first Super 12 crown with a 51-10 victory in their semi-final clash at Aussie Stadium in Sydney on Saturday night.
A low scoring first half was characterised by pressure out wide from the Brumbies and big defence from the Waratahs.
The home side were hobbled by a woeful line-out performance that began to resemble a lottery as they repeatedly lost ball to the Brumbies jumpers, missed their touch kicks and turn-over too much ball.
A Matt Burke penalty comprised the Waratahs only contribution to the scoreboard.
In contrast the urgency and speed of the Brumbies was rewarded when Graham Bond hit the line at pace.The winger dummied, brushed aside a tackle and dotted down under the post.
Andrew Walker added the conversion and an earlier penalty to give ACT a 10-3 halftime lead.
The secondhalf started badly for the Waratahs when Burke's kick-off didn't travel ten metres and then to top it the home side conceded a penalty from the resulting scrum on centre field.
Substitute kicker Julian Huxley slotted the long distance kick to give the Brumbies a 13-3 lead.
While the Waratahs seemed to solve their line-out problems, their defence turned porous. But it was against the run of play that Waratahs' Scott Staniforth turned the stadium on its head with a superb intercept.
Nobody was going to catch the speedster as he ran a good 70 metres to score. Burke's conversion put the Waratahs back in the hunt at 10-13.
The Brumbies replied in the only way they know how with a try from hooker Jeremy Paul. Huxley converted and it was 20-10.
Flanker Owen Finegan scored the next try for the Brumbies and the conversion helped the visitors to a 27-10 lead as their minds surely turned to a Super 12 final in Christchurch.
A superb Waratahs attack was blunted when Brumbies Andrew Walker hacked ahead a loose ball, collected and then popped a pass to lock Justin Harrison who scored.
Huxley converted to put the Brumbies in the clear at 34-10.
Shortly afterwards Bond crossed the line for the Brumbies and Huxley's conversion and a penalty solidified their lead on 44-10.
A Pat Howard try put the icing on the cake for the Brumbies just on full time and Huxley's conversion gave the kicker a perfect 7 from 7 record and the Brumbies the win at 51-10.
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