Brumbies run in nine tries in statement defeat of Moana Pasifika
A brilliant Tom Wright try-of-the-year contender has helped the ACT Brumbies trounce Moana Pasifika in a statement 39-point Super Rugby Pacific win in Canberra.
Five-eighth Noah Lolesio was also a standout in Friday's 60-21 victory, the Brumbies scoring nine tries and moving to 4-1 ahead of a tasty Australian derby with the in-form Queensland Reds in Brisbane next Saturday.
The game was in the balance when Wright boldly chipped across-field from the Brumbies' line, finding flying winger Corey Toole in traffic.
Toole, who did his own Test case no harm with another scything display, veered back in-field and found Wright again for a daring full-field try.
Pasifika had looked set to score themselves before hooker Billy Pollard stripped a runaway Nigel Ah Wong, giving Wright the platform to display some Brumbies brilliance.
Lolesio dropped a pass with the line in sight, but it was an early blemish in an otherwise dominant performance by the man overlooked for a World Cup role last year.
He no sooner set up Hudson Creighton with a line-break and flick pass, then kicked across-field to create a try after halftime, and threw the last pass for rampaging flanker Charlie Cale to score.
No.12 Tamati Tua scored from a turnover, Pollard showing a clean set of heels before Rob Valetini stormed on to a pass and set up the centre.
Pasifika, who are now 2-3, kept early pace when they twice exposed a thin left-side Brumbies defence and scored through Kyren Taumoefolau and Lotu Inisi.
Wright's bold play swung the tide - it was 43-14 before the visitors scored again - and he iced his display with a polished assist for Toole and a try of his own in a two-minute burst in the final stages.
The Brumbies' not-so-subtle reminder of their class comes ahead of a spicy encounter with the Reds, who are 3-1 and sit second ahead of Saturday's date with the winless Western Force in Perth.
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It’s not new for nines to be the key playmaker. For the Boks it has been common, with Fourie du Preez and Joost vd Westhuizen being obvious examples. It's also not that recent for nines to be box kicking, covering high balls in the back field, and tackling in the defensive line. For example, Faf de Klerk has been doing all of that for years.
Go to commentsThe hell with this constant regurgitation of what this pretty boy is doing. For all I care he might as well be doing a Jamie Oliver cooking course. Rugby is not a progression toward the NFL, which, given its prominence in your reporting, you appear to regard as the ultimate contact sport. It has virtually nothing to do with rugby, and forever may that remain the case. I know that if I don’t like it I don’t have to read it, but I’m sick of seeing this dishwater-dull nonsense.
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