The Brumbies moved to the top of the Australian Super Rugby Conference after beating Japan’s Sunwolves 66-5 at GIO Stadium in Canberra.
The Brumbies outscored the Sunwolves by ten tries to one in the first ever match between the two sides.
Brumbies captain Stephen Moore, fullback Aidan Toua and wing Nigel Ah Wong all scored two tries each.
Akihito Yamada scored the Sunwolves only points and his try makes him Super Rugby’s leading try scorer with nine tries to date.
Canberra’s Brumbies are now level on 34 points with the Waratahs but they move ahead of the Sydney side due to one extra victory and have a better points differential.
The result moves the Brumbies up from 11th place to third in the overall conference as a result of them becoming Australian Conference leaders. The Waratahs drop from third down to ninth place and out of the qualification for the play offs.
The Brumbies were never under any threat and went on with the job in the second half against the Japanese visitors after leading 28-0 at half-time on a chilly Canberra evening.
It was the most points the Brumbies have scored since 2004, when they thrashed South Africa’s Lions 68-28.
While the Sunwolves were outmatched by the Australian contenders they kept at it and leave Australia having impressed in their 35-25 defeat to the Reds in Brisbane last weekend.
The Brumbies used the opportunity to employ some of their rehearsed training ground moves to conjure some tries against the porous Sunwolves defence.
Fly-half Christian Lealiifano had plenty of goalkicking practice and finished with eight conversions from 10 attempts.
“The guys who came on finished well so it’s a nice result for us going into the international break,” Brumbies skipper Moore said.
“The replacements have done a good job all year and there’s a couple of new guys who have had their first taste in the last few weeks.
“So that’s really important that those guys are experiencing Super Rugby and they’re the future of the team going forward.”
The Brumbies now have the edge over the Waratahs with matches against the Reds, Auckland Blues and Western Force — all teams below them on the standings — while the Waratahs face a tough match against New Zealand’s Hurricanes.
The Sunwolves loss is their second largest defeat since they joined Super Rugby this season as they were beaten 92-17 by the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein during the 8th round.
The Brumbies return to Super Rugby after the June Internationals on July 1 with a home match in Canberra against the Reds, while the Sunwolves host the Waratahs in Tokyo..
Final Score Brumbies 66 (28) Sunwolves 5 (0)
Scorers
Brumbies
Tries – S.Fardy, S.Moore 2, M.Dowsett, N.Ah Wong 2, A.Toua 2, J.Jackson-Hope, J.Dargaville
Pen –
Con – C.Lealiifano 8
Drop –
Cards –
Sunwolves
Tries – A.Yamada
Pen –
Con –
Drop –
Cards – H. Ono (39th min yellow)
Match Officials
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant Ref 1:Jaco Peyper
Assistant Ref 2:Rohan Hoffmann
TMO : Ian Smith
Teams
Brumbies
1. Scott Sio , 2. Stephen Moore (c) , 3. Ruan Smith , 4. Rory Arnold , 5. Sam Carter , 6. Scott Fardy , 7. David Pocock , 8. Jarrad Butler , 9. Michael Dowsett , 10. Christian Lealiifano (c) , 11. James Dargaville , 12. Robbie Coleman , 13. Tevita Kuridrani , 14. Nigel Ah Wong , 15. Aidan Toua
Replacements 16. Josh Mann-Rea, 17. Allan Alaalatoa, 18. Leslie Leulua’iali’i-Makin, 19. Tom Staniforth, 20. Jordan Smiler, 21. Joe Powell, 22. Jordan Jackson-Hope, 23. Lausii Taliauli
Sunwolves
15.Yasutaka Asahara, 14. Mifiposeti Paea , 13 Derek Carpenter, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa , 11. Akihito Yamada, 10.Yu Tamura, 9. Yuki Yatomi , 8 Ed Quirk, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6. Liaki Moli, 5. Fa’ Atiga Lemalu, 4.Hitoshi Ono , 3. Takuma Asahara,2. Shota Horie (c), 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements: 16.Takeshi Kizu, 17.Ziun Gu , 18. Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 19.Yoshiya Hosoda , 20 Taiyo Ando, 21.Daisuke Inoue, 22.Tusi Pisi , 23.Riaan Viljoen
