The Brumbies battered the Waratahs 61-10 claiming a record win in a one-sided Super Rugby AU clash at GIO Stadium, Canberra.
Winger Mack Hansen grabbed a hat-trick and standoff Noah Lolseio scored a try and kicked five conversions for a match haul of 15 points.
The Brumbies wracked up nine tries in a comfortable win against a woeful Waratahs, who looked uninterested – their 10th win in the last 11 Super Rugby games against the Sydney side.
Rob Valetini, Nic White, Connal McInerney, Lachlan Lonergan, and Tom Banks also crossed for scores. Ryan Lonergan came off the bench to add three conversions.
The victory was also the seventh on the bounce in this fixture for the Canberra side and the biggest margin in Super Rugby versus the east coast side since a 47-point margin in 1997.
Brumbies outplay their beleaguered opponents in every facet of play
To top 50 points in professional rugby is nothing to be sniffed at, but to then make it a half-century margin of victory, is another.
Perhaps the only surprise was that the defending champions didn’t score more. Their driving maul was immense, with Valetini, Lolesio, McInerney, and Lachlan Lonergan all scoring from the set-piece.
The home side’s forwards destroyed their opponents, winning – what felt like – a penalty every third scrum.
Rob Penney’s charges struggled to hold onto the ball and wasted several decent chances inside the Brumbies’ 22. The first-time tackling was non-existent as the hosts seemed to ghost through the lines with ease.
Dan McKellar’s men make it two wins from two to begin their Super Rugby AU defence. The game was as good as over in the first quarter after the hosts took a three-try 19-3 lead.
Standoff Will Harrison opened the scoring with an early penalty, but the visitors conceded three tries soon afterward. Valetini crossed on eight minutes before Hansen’s first, four minutes later.
Almost every Brumbies player had a hand in the try. They shifted the ball left, right, left again before sending the ball to Lolesio. The standoff ran across the defenders and put Hansen away.
Lolesio’s try came when the flyhalf joined a well-defended driving maul. The ball got recycled to the 21-year-old, who only had to flop over the line.
The Tahs hit back through Harry Johnson-Holmes to make it a two-score game on the half-hour. However, that was as good as it got for Penney’s men.
Mark Nawaqanitawase went close for NSW, but the winger, under pressure from Andy Muirhead, knocked-on as he tried to reach for the corner.
Before halftime, McInerney scored from another maul, one of many he will get playing in this side, to extend the lead to 16 points.
Brumbies run riot after the interval as Waratahs wilt
The Brumbies came out of the shed firing, looking to kill the game as quickly as possible. They did with two more scores in the third quarter to bring up the forty-burger.
White spun out of two tackles, after a back-row move from the scrum, and darted through for his team’s fifth try, three minutes after the break.
The scrumhalf was involved in Hansen’s second 13 minutes later.
White broke from the scrum, sent a skip-pass to Irae Simone, who drifted before sending a wide pass to the winger. Hansen gathered on the bounce and beat the cover defence to the corner flag.
The tries kept coming as the ACT franchise brought up a deserved, but ultimately easy, a half-century before the end.
Simone joined the back of the driving maul to help shunt the Brumbies over the chalk. It was Lachlan Lonergan, who flopped over, but only after the backs again joined the tight-phase set-piece.
Hansen notched a treble to cap a sublime day at the office before Banks’ 78th-minute try gave the Brumbies the record win over the Waratahs.
The 22-year-old winger gathered a lovely little grubber from Len Ikita and waltzed over untouched in the corner. Banks cruised in for a score of his own after the defenders ran out of troops.
It is going to be a long season for this New South Wales outfit.
Final Score: Brumbies 61 (26) Waratahs 10 (10)
Scorers
Brumbies
Tries – Valetini, Hansen (3), Lolesio, McInerney, White, L. Lonergan, Banks
Pen –
Con – Lolesio (5), R. Lonergan (3)
Drop –
Cards –
Waratahs
Tries – Johnson-Holmes
Pen – Harrison
Con – Harrison
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Nic Berry
Assistant Ref 1: Amy Perrett
Assistant Ref 2: Reuben Keane
TMO: James Leckie
Teams
Brumbies
15 Tom Banks, 14 Andy Muirhead, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Irae Simone, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Jahrome Brown, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Cadeyrn Neville, 4 Darcy Swain, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (captain), 2 Connal McInerney, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Lachlan Lonergan, 17 Harry Lloyd, 18 Tom Ross, 19 Nick Frost, 20 Tom Cusack, 21 Ryan Lonergan, 22 Reesjan Pasitoa, 23 Issak Fines-Leleiwasa
Waratahs
15 Jack Maddocks, 14 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13 Alex Newsome (captain), 12 Tepai Moeroa, 11 James Ramm, 10 Will Harrison, 9 Jack Grant, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Lachlan Swinton, 5 Jack Whetton, 4 Sam Caird, 3 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 2 Tom Horton, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements: 16 David Porecki, 17 Te Tera Faulkner, 18 Sio Tatola, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Hugh Sinclair, 21 Henry Robertson, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Triston Reilly
