The Brumbies have played the Sunwolves three times in Super Rugby since 2016, the Brumbies have won all three matches.
This will be the third time that these teams meet in Canberra. The other match between the sides was played in Tokyo during the 2018 season.
- The Brumbies have won all their previous three Super Rugby games against the Sunwolves, scoring an average of 46 points per game in that time.
- The Brumbies have won six of their last seven Super Rugby games at home, including their last four on the bounce; the last time they won more in succession was an 11-game stretch across the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
- The Sunwolves have led at half-time in four of their last five Super Rugby games against Australian opposition; though, they’ve won once.
- The Brumbies have scored 24 first-half tries thus far in Super Rugby 2019, more than any other team in the competition and eight more than the Sunwolves (16).
- Only the Blues’ Melani Nanai (775) has gained more metres in Super Rugby 2019 than Sunwolves’ duo Gerhard van den Heever (773) and Semisi Masirewa (674).
Match detail
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In the meantime why not have a look at the match preview.
1.00: PEEEEP! Yu Tamura gets us underway at GIO Stadium, Canberra.
3.00: NO TRY! Gerhard van den Heever thinks he has finished in the corner, but Joe Powell’s tackle pushed the winger’s foot into touch before he dotted down. Van Den Heever took to long to score, if he had slid in before the line instead of running over it and trying to slide, he would have scored. BIG MISTAKE! 0-0
4.00: Another reset scrum for the Sunwolves inside their half.
5.00: Henry Speight is thrown into touch by Van den Heever. Lineout to the visitors on the Aussie’s 10m.
7.00: Ryohei Yamanaka cleans up, under pressure from Powell, after Pete Samu won a turnover and started a counter-attack. Christian Lealiifano kicked downfield where Yamanaka gathered and cleared.
8.00: Grant Hattingh hobbles off the park. The Japanese franchise has used the most players in Super Rugby, this year: 49. Toni Pulu gets on the wrong side of the referee. Tamura clears.
9.00: Tamura finds touch this time after Tom Banks and himself have a kicking duel.
10.00: Tom Cusack goes offsides at the ruck. Tamura kicks to just inside the opposition’s 22.
12.00: The Brumbies are opting to kick, keeping the ball in play. They play the percentages by forcing the visitors back, making the Sunwolves kick to touch and cede possession.
13.00: TRY! Speight races away after a counter-attack, and a lot of kicking. Folau Fainga’a and Samu combined to send the ball wide to Speight. The winger charged forward and played a one-two with Tevita Kuridrani. It’s his third try in four games, and his first try in five games at GIO. 5-0
14.00: CONVERSION! Lealiifano adds the extras. 7-0
16.00: TRY! Banks wins the turnover inside his 22 and starts a counter. Powell goes to Cusack. Kuridrani breaks forward to the halfway line, pointing to where he wanted Powell to be before drawing the final man and sending the scrumhalf away. 12-0
18.00: CONVERSION! Lealiifano curls his kick around. 14-0
19.00: Yamanaka has taken a head-knock, and is leaving for an HIA. Human metronome Hayden Parker is coming on.
22.00: Banks puts a penalty to the corner after Shota Horie had his hands in the ruck.
23.00: HELD-UP! The Sunwolves do what very few have been able to do this season: stop Fainga’a from scoring off a driving maul. Great defence.
24.00: Van den Heever kicks a long clearance after the 5m scrum.
25.00: Irae Simone drops a simple catch, but he is lucky because referee Damon Murphy was playing a sneaky advantage for offsides by Parker. Banks kicks to the corner.
27.00: Some great defending by the Sunwolves’ pack stops another rolling maul. Powell has to use the pill, sending the ball wide to his halfback partner. Lealiifano plays a floated pass out to the sideline to Speight, who dots down in the corner. 19-0
29.00: MISS! Lealiifano misses from wide. 19-0
31.00: Sunwolves need some points before the break.
33.00: BIG SCRUM! Hiroshi Yamashita collapses the scrum, allowing the Brumbies to clear from their line.
35.00: Knock-on by white in the tackle. Scrum to the tourists.
38.00: The pace of the game has slowed as the teams wait for halftime.
41.00: The Brumbies cannot capitalise on good field position, but they take a handy lead into the shed.
The halftime score was Brumbies 19 Sunwolves 0
41.00: PEEEEP! We are back underway in Australia.
43.00: A wayward throw by the Brumbies gives the opposition a scrum on the Brumbies’ 10m.
44.00: Scrum reset.
45.00: A knock on by Tom Rowe lets the Brumbies clear down the field. There is no fullback, so the visitors chase back before Parker clears. The Sunwolves are a mess at the minute.
46.00: Scott Sio loses the ball forward after a poor pass from Powell.
47.00: The Brumbies win the penalty, and kick to the corner.
49.00: NO TRY! Superb defence of the rolling maul – again. The Brumbies go wide because they are told to use the ball. Cusack cuts back and tries to burrow his way over the try-line, but he knocks on as he tries to score. We checking if Dan Pryor was offsides because his tackle knocked the ball out of Cusack’s hand as he dived forward.
52.00: TRY! Speight ran a perfect line from behind a scrum, taking Simone’s well-timed pass, and racing into the opposition’s 22, and sending Banks away in the corner. 24-0
54.00: CONVERSION! Lealiifano slots the touchline kick. 26-0
57.00: The Sunwolves go through a long period of possession as they march down the field. They need seven to get some sort of momentum going.
58.00: Oh dear! A 13-phase attack ends meekly with another handling error inside the Aussie’s 22.
59.00: Dan McKellar will be pleased with his charges, especially his pack, who win another scrum-penalty to relieve the pressure.
61.00: Parker kicks a penalty to the corner.
63.00: An eight-phase attack ends because there was no advantage for offsides by Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin.
64.00: The Sunwolves come again.
65.00: TRY! The visitors botch the attack, after eight phases, they throw an intercept. Ryan Lonergan clears. The Sunwolves lose the ball in contact at the halfway-line, and Samu runs away to seal the bonus-point. 31-0
66.00: CONVERSION! Lealiifano curls another touchline kick between the sticks. 33-0
70.00: The Brumbies look to see the game out, playing for territory, as they have done throughout.
74.00: What is going on? The Sunwolves kick the ball over the dead-ball line from five-metres out when running to the chalk was the better option. Terrible by Tony Brown’s men.
77.00: The Sunwolves have been poor. The home team have a scrum on their 5m, but the opposition’s pack win a penalty.
78.00: Tap and go.
80.00: NO TRY! The Sunwolves drop the ball trying to crash over from close range. Scrum to the Brumbies. It will be the second time the Japanese have been nilled on tour, while it’s the first time in four seasons that the Canberra men have held a team to zero.
81.00: SCRUM-PENALTY! Well done to the home side’s pack, they dominated tonight, winning a penalty for Banks to clear. Game over!
FULL TIME
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The final score is Brumbies 33 (19) Sunwolves 0 (0)
Scorers
Brumbies
Tries – Speight (2), Powell, Banks, Samu
Pen –
Con – Lealiifano (4)
Drop –
Cards –
Sunwolves
Tries –
Pen –
Con –
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Damon Murphy
Assistant Ref 1: Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 2: Graham Cooper
TMO: George Ayoub
Teams
Brumbies
15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Irae Simone, 11 Toni Pulu, 10 Christian Lealiifano (captain), 9 Joe Powell, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Jahrome Brown, 6 Tom Cusack, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Darcy Swain, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Connal Mcinerney, 17 James Slipper, 18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin, 19 Blake Enever, 20 Murray Douglas, 21 Ryan Lonergan, 22 Tom Wright, 23 Andy Muirhead.
Sunwolves
15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Gerhard Van Den Heever, 13 Josh Timu, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Jason Emery, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco, 7 Dan Pryor, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Mark Abbott, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Conan O’Donnell, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Tom Rowe, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Ben Gunter, 22 Jamie Booth, 23 Hayden Parker.