The Brumbies have played the Western Force 18 times in Super Rugby since 2006, and the Brumbies have won 13 matches, lost four times and drawn once.
The Brumbies’ 13 wins give them a record of winning 72% of their matches against the Western Force regardless of venue.
- The Force are winless on their return to Super Rugby, and history is against the Perth-based franchise.
- The Canberra side has won their last eight Super Rugby games against the Force; only once before have they managed more successive wins against a single opponent (Reds – 12; 2000 – 2010).
- The Brumbies have won 14 of their last 15 Super Rugby games on home turf (L1), including their final four on the bounce; they have not lost an Australian derby at home since the opening round of the 2019 season.
- The Brumbies (5) and Force (3) have scored the most and second-most tries from mauls respectively in Super Rugby AU; indeed, no other team has scored more than one try via this method.
- Tom Wright has scored six tries in his last six Super Rugby games for the Brumbies, including one against the Force in Round 4 of Super Rugby AU; in that game, he made career highs for carries (15), metres gained (131) and clean breaks (4).
- Henry Stowers (Force) has made a competition-high 19 tackles per game in Super Rugby AU; he has also made 12 carries per game, making him one of only four players to register 10+ per game in both categories.
- A Brumbies’ win will seal their position at the top of the table and grant them a home final.
Match detail
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In the meantime, why not have a look at the match preview.
1.00: PEEEEP! We are underway at GIO Stadium.
3.00: Great work by the Force, who halt the Brumbies’ driving maul before winning a penalty of their own.
6.00: The Force win a penalty and decide to kick to the corner. Unfortunately, Jeremy Thrush knocks on at the base of the ruck.
7.00: Joe Powell is stranded and concedes a penalty. The Force kick to the corner again.
9.00: TRY! Henry Stowers went close. The Brumbies defend with vigour, not letting the opposition walk over them. The Force, however, finally get over when Fergus Lee-Warner crashes over after several phases of bashing away at the Brumbies’ line. 0-5
11.00: CONVERSION! Ian Prior adds the extras. 0-7
13.00: The Brumbies look a little bit out of sorts in the opening stages, but I expect them to come good as the game continues.
14.00: The Force win a penalty from a driving maul, and they kick to the Brumbies’ 22.
17.00: Another mistake by the hosts let the visitors have possession inside their 22. A missed drop-out leads to the Force winning a lineout before the Perth team give away a penalty.
18.00: A sloppy lineout is cleaned up by the ACT team, but they kick away possession.
20.00: Good work by Stowers as he wins turnover after Irae Simone is isolated. Both teams going to the boot quite a bit in the early stages, here. Tom Wright finds touch after the kicking duel.
24.00: The Brumbies have slowly managed to get their hands on the possession, but they are going nowhere. An 11-phase attack ends when Will Miller knocks the ball into touch. The passing has been poor from the ACT team.
26.00: The Brumbies are starting to get into their groove as the Force loose discipline under pressure. Brad Lacey and Thrush both start offsides. Tom Banks kicks to the corner.
28.00: NO TRY! Andy Muirhead goes close after taking Connal McInerney’s inside ball before the captain Allan Alaalatoa barges over. TMO Graham Cooper checks for a knock-on from the prop and the replay verifies the TMO’s call. 0-7
29.00: NO TRY! Muirhead thinks he’s scored but Joe Powell obstructed Richard Kahui in the build-up. 0-7
32.00: TRY! Tom Wright goes over in the corner after Solomone Kata won the bouncing ball and played Miller. The flanker raced to the 22 before sending the winger away. 5-7
34.00: MISS! The touchline kick is wide. 5-7
37.00: Banks gets a chance to kick his team into a strong attacking position after another infringement at the ruck by the visitors.
39.00: TRY! Tom Banks finally gets over the whitewash in Super Rugby AU after bashing through some weak defending. 10-7
40.00: MISS! Bayley Kuenzle misses again. 10-7
The halftime score was Brumbies 10 Western Force 7
41.00: PEEEEP! We are back underway in Canberra.
44.00: If the Force can stay in this, they might have a chance.
47.00: A good scrum by the Brumbies leads to a scrum-penalty to the home team.
50.00: Nick Jooste gets pinged for sealing off at the breakdown. The Brumbies bring on four Wallabies as they look to lift the tempo.
51.00: TRY! Miller gets in on the act after weathering the storm at the other end. The Force just ran out of numbers on the short side. Kahui took a bad knock in the lead up to the try. 15-7
52.00: CONVERSION! Bayley Kuenzle lands the kick. 17-7
The Force is back inside the Brumbies’ 22 and looking dangerous.
56.00: TRY! Jono Lance slices through the Brumbies after picking the ball up from his bootlaces before cutting through the defenders to score. 17-12
57.00: CONVERSION! Prior makes it two from two. 17-14
60.00: The Force can win this, they just need to keep playing on the front foot and cut out silly errors. The Brumbies have been out of sorts and are making mistakes they don’t usually do. Dan McKellar will be worried about his men going into the business end of the competition.
65.00: TRY! Len Ikitau gets his maiden Super Rugby try after the Force ran out of numbers after Nick White’s quick-tap penalty. That’s what the hosts needed. 22-14
67.00:CONVERSION: The kick is good. 24-14
71.00: The Western Force still believe; they have had the better of the last five minutes and can still cause an upset if they finish an attack.
74.00: TRY! Muirhead gets his third SR try of the season after beating Lacey to the rolling ball. 29-14
76.00: CONVERSION! The kick is good – game over! 31-14
80.00: NO TRY! Folau Fainga’a almost makes history as only the fourth player in SR history to score double-digit tries in consecutive seasons, but the TMO rules for obstruction from the rolling maul. 31-14
81.00: The hooter sounds, the ball is kicked out, and the hosts are into another SR final after finishing top of the Aussie log.
FULL TIME
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The final score after 80 minutes is Brumbies 31 (10) Western Force 14 (7)
Scorers
Brumbies
Tries – Wright, Banks, Miller, Ikitau, Muirhead
Pen –
Con – Kuenzle (3)
Drop –
Cards –
Western Force
Tries – Lee-Warner, Lance
Pen –
Con – Prior (2)
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Amy Perrett
Assistant Ref 1: Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 2: Reuben Keane
TMO: Graham Cooper
Teams
Brumbies
15 Tom Banks, 14 Andy Muirhead, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Irae Simone, 11 Tom Wright, 10 Bayley Kuenzle, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Will Miller, 6 Lachlan McCaffrey, 5 Cadeyrn Neville, 4 Murray Douglas, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (captain), 2 Connal McInerney, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Folau Fainga’a, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Tom Ross, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Rob Valetini, 21 Nic White, 22 Reesjan Pasitoa, 23 Len Ikitau
Western Force
15 Jack McGregor, 14 Marcel Brache, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Henry Taefu, 11 Brad Lacey, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Ian Prior (captain), 8 Henry Stowers, 7 Kane Koteka, 6 Fergus Lee-Warner, 5 Ollie Atkins, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Andrew Ready, 1 Pek Cowan
Replacements: 16 Feleti Kaitu’u, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Tom Sheminant, 19 Tevin Ferris, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Nick Jooste, 23 Jake Strachan
