The Plus500 Brumbies have lost to the Jaguares at GIO Stadium after an intense 20-25 game that saw star winger Henry Speight receive his 100th cap for the Brumbies.
The afternoon sun was warm as the Jaguares kicked south and the game got underway, the rain from earlier in the day almost forgotten.
The Jaguares took no time to get started and 5 minutes into the half, outside centre Matias Orlando crashed through the Brumbies defence to score the first points of the game.
The try was converted by Jaguares flyhalf, Nicolas Sanchez.
The Jaguares kept the pressure on and capitalised on a few Brumbies mistakes, Sanchez slammed home two penalty’s and missed the third.
That left the score at 0-13 only 20 minutes in.
The missed penalty gave the Brumbies a chance to breath and they began to move up the field, slowly forcing the ball back into the enemy half and towards the Jaguares red zone.
The Brumbies began to force errors from the Argentinian side and began to build some urgency and momentum.
Three Brumbies line-outs only meters from the try line and the boys got that look in their eyes and they attacked.
Tom Banks found a gap in the Jaguares defence and dashed over the line in the left corner, finally getting some points on the board for the home side.
Wharenui Hawera pushed the ball wide and the team got ready to make a final five-minute push for the half.It payed off and the Brumbies were back in the Jaguares red zone moments later, testing the Jaguares defence once again.
A perfectly waited kick was put in for Banks to run on to and the fullback dived on the ball for his second of the night.
Hawera unfortunately missed the conversion again and the half time whistle sounded leaving the game at 10-13 to the Jaguares.
The second half started with some intense hits that came to an abrupt end when Speight was whacked in the air by a Jaguares winger, Emiliano Boffelli.
Boffelli showed great sportsmanship and helped Speight up as he received a yellow card.
Play resumed in the Jaguares half.
The Brumbies were once again testing the Argentinian defence and pushed the ball all the way into the end zone where the Jaguares had to clear the ball to relieve the pressure.
They then took confidence in the space and pushed forward.
The Brumbies were very quickly on the back foot for the next 10 minutes.
With their backs against the wall they showed some quality defence, denying the away team any chance to score for as long as they could.
They couldn’t do it forever and a gap appeared in the Brumbies defence and inside centre, Jeronimo De la Fuente pounced over the line in the left corner, the same place Banks had landed twice in the previous half.
Sanchez redeemed his missed penalty by converting and pushing the score to 10-20 with twenty minutes left.
The Brumbies weren’t going to take that sitting down and after some push and shove in their own half, moved the ball to the other end of the field with some solid possession style rugby.
The boys moved into the red zone and began to probe the Jaguares final defences with everything they had.
They really began to really get behind the ball when Powell sent it long to Chance Peni who dummied once and then pushed through three players to score a try just left of the posts.
Hawera also joined the redemption game and converted the try closing the gap even more.
The Jaguares responded in turn and after another missed penalty, forced their way back down the field.
An impressive run down the line saw winger Boffelli beat Speight into the left-hand corner again, Sanchez missing another kick.
A surge from the Brumbies found them back in the Jaguares red zone and looking dangerous under the posts.
The Jaguares held out however, forced a turnover and kicked it away to Banks to ran it straight back to their 20-meter line.
An injury stopped play for a moment and saw a Jaguares player taken off on a stretcher.
The Brumbies made an impressive final push but unfortunately couldn’t get past the Jaguares defence to score a final try.
Instead Hawera closed out the night by scoring a final penalty to leave the score 20-25 at full time in the Australian Capital.
That penalty gave the Brumbies a consolation bonus-point on a disappointing evening in the capital.
STATISTICS
Plus500 Brumbies (10) 20 (T: Banks (2), Peni C: Hawera P: Hawera)
Jaguares (13) 25 (T: Orlando, De la Fuente, Boffelli C: Sanchez (2) P: Sanchez (2))
TEAM
1. Scott SIO (17. Nic MAYHEW 59’), 2. Folau FAINGAA (16. Robbie ABEL 59’), 3. Allan ALAALATOA (18. Mees ERASMUS 72’), 4. Rory ARNOLD (19. Darcy SWAIN 63’), 5. Sam CARTER, 6. Tom CUSACK, 7. David POCOCK (20. Michael OAKMAN-HUNT 73’), 8. Isi NAISARANI, 9. Joe POWELL (21. Matt LUCAS 63’), 10. Wharenui HAWERA, 11. Chance PENI, 12. Kyle GODWIN (22. Jordan JACKSON-HOPE 59’), 13. Tevita KURIDRANI (23. Andrew SMITH 73’), 14. Henry SPEIGHT, 15. Tom BANKS
