Rugby: Brumbies upset Reds

Ita Vaea of the Brumbies runs in attack. Photo / Getty Images

Reds 22
Brumbies 14

First five-eighths Matt Giteau kicked six goals from six attempts to steer the ACT Brumbies to a 22-14 win over the Queensland Reds in Super 15 rugby on Saturday, ending the Reds' 12-match winning streak at home.

Giteau had the edge in his personal battle with the Reds' incumbent Wallabies first five-eighths Quade Cooper, kicking 17 points while Cooper missed two of five attempts and finished with nine points.

A relentless defensive performance by the Brumbies won the match, giving them only their third victory of the season and leaving the Reds with 11 wins from 14 games. Queensland stay top of the Super 15 table but only one point clear of South Africa's Stormers with two rounds remaining.

Super 15 standings

Queensland has already wrapped up first place in the five-team Australian conference, which they lead by 11 points from the New South Wales Waratahs.

Giteau kicked five penalties and the conversion of hooker Stephen Moore's first-half try to keep the Brumbies ahead of the Reds throughout. His fifth penalty, after the fulltime siren, gave the Brumbies an eight-point margin and denied the Reds a consolation bonus point that may be crucial in determining final championship standings.

Moore, a former Reds player, questioned Giteau's decision to kick for goal from the final penalty when to do so denied a fellow Australian team an important point for a loss by fewer than seven points.

Giteau needed only to kick the ball for touch to end the match and to preserve the Brumbies' win. But the combatitive captain told Moore - audibly through the referee's microphone - to mind his own business and added the three points that made the Reds' defeat more costly.

Giteau later defended the decision while Reds captain James Horwill appeared angered by what might be classified as a gratuitous action.

"It's been a tough year for us but the Reds are in the finals and they've got a lot to play for," Giteau said. "So good luck to them for the rest of the season, but for us it was a huge show of character .

"I think defensively we were put under a lot of pressure but we backed our defence, and I've always said in these Australian games previous form doesn't mean a lot.

"At the back end of the second half we were giving away a lot of penalties so we just had to calm down and back ourselves ... and that's what happened in the end."

Giteau was sound in all aspects of his play, not just with his spotless goalkicking. He kicked accurately for position and was supported by the Brumbies' enthusiastic pursuit of territorial kicks, which kept the Reds under pressure.

Giteau selected his options carefully and steered the Brumbies' attack confidently from first receiver.

Cooper, in contrast, had one of his least convincing matches for the Reds. While he showed flashes of brilliance by finding runners with long passes or opening gaps with clever offloads, he was disconcerted by a Brumbies defence that denied him time to operate.

The Brumbies rushed up quickly on defence to shut down Cooper's options while equally stifling the Reds' attacking threats out wide. The Reds had enormous difficulty getting early runners across the advantage line and were forced to play a largely static game based around slow loose ball.

The Brumbies attacked around the fringes of rucks and often maintained possession through multiple phases. When they gained good field position, mistakes by the Reds gave Giteau a chance to accumulate points from goalkicks.

"They didn't surprise us. We knew that that was what they were going to come at us with," Horwill said. "They spoke about it during the week and it was a disappointing effort by us. We didn't capitalize on efforts we made down in the 22 and we let them into the match with some silly mistakes."

ACT 22 (Stephen Moore try; Matt Giteau conversion, 5 penalties), Queensland 14 (Ben Lucas try; Quade Cooper 3 penalties). HT: 19-11.

- AP