Blues let win slip against Brumbies
- Mar 1
- 2 min read
After snapping a 26-year losing streak against the Crusaders in Christchurch last round, the Brumbies accounted for the Blues 30-27 in Canberra, but left it late to seal the win.
But the Blues had the game in their hands after leading by as much as nine points with 10 minutes remaining.
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However Stephen Perofeta was yellow carded in the 70th minute and home side flanker Luke Reimer crossed to set up a thrilling finish.
All the visitors had to do was hold onto the ball, but they couldn't, and the Brumbies had one last roll of the dice.
As the fulltime siren sounded, the home fans held their breath as their side charged towards the line.
They almost blew it when Cale bobbled the ball metres from the line, but the No.8 picked it up from the ruck and planted it over the line to secure the win.
The ACT side had themselves to blame for making the match as close as it was, coughing up 15 turnovers.
The hosts, who had scored 106 points in their opening two matches, looked like they were going to continue their dominant offence when prop James Slipper punted the ball about 60 metres and found a running Declan Meredith, who planted it over the line in the sixth minute.
But the Blues responded immediately when Caleb Clarke picked off an Ollie Sapsford pass to cross underneath the posts.
Hooker Billy Pollard reinstated the Brumbies' advantage when he wrestled his way over.
The Blues, however, responded when outside centre AJ Lam shrugged off a flurry of defenders to muscle his touch down and level the halftime scores at 15-15.
Brumbies prop Blake Schoupp thought he had scored his first Super Rugby try when he crashed over in the 49th minute, but it was chalked off as Rhys Van Nek knocked the ball in the lead-up.
Shortly after, Cole Forbes broke down the right edge before the Blues moved right and Clarke strolled over untouched.
Dalton Papali'i celebrated his 100th game with a try in the 62nd minute.
But the Brumbies flicked a switch, scoring two tries in the dying minutes to end the Blues' seven-year winning streak in Canberra.
ACT Brumbies 30 (Meredith, Pollard, Reimer, Cale; Cons: Lonergan, Edmed tries; Lonergan 2 pens) Blues 27 (Clarke 2, Lam, Papali'i tries; Perofeta 2 cons; Pens: Perofeta)
