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Waratahs blitz sinks Brumbies
01/02/2008 15:08 - (SA)
Sydney - The Waratahs on Friday came from behind to pile on 38 unanswered second half points to down a depleted Brumbies line-up 48-19 at Bluetongue Stadium.
Down 19-10 at half-time against a Brumbies outfit with only one of its Rugby World Cup stars, the Waratahs turned the screws in the second 40 minutes, and they did it without star recruit Timana Tahu.
Tahu played the first half for the Waratahs but wasn't given anything like the room afforded him by the Reds last week.
It was supposed to be Waratahs unleashing the potent attacking forces of their backline but instead five of the home side's eight five-pointers came through forwards, with Adam Freier, Wycliff Palu, Matt Dunning, Sekope Kepu and Tatafu Polota-Nau scoring tries, along with backs Tom Carter, who got two, and Robert Horne.
Kurtley Beale and Brett Sheehan each booted two conversions as Lachlan Turner had an off night and missed with his three attempts.
For the Brumbies, Pete Kimlin, Afusipa Taumoepeau and John Ulugia grabbed five-pointers while Anthony Faingaa booted two conversions.
In front of 5 185 spectators in Gosford, the four 20-minute quarters did produce plenty of ball movement and quick taps under rugby's new laws - as well as handling errors in greasy conditions.
The Canberra-based side led 19-10 at half-time after three first half tries but, following the sin-binning of Brumbies lock Dan Guiness, the Waratahs clawed it back to 19-17 when Dunning crossed in the 49th minute and Beale converted from the sideline.
The Waratahs capitalised on the sin-binning again seven minutes later when a quick tap sent Kepu crashing over and the conversion gave the home side the lead 24-19.
From there, the inexperienced Brumbies - who played only prop Guy Shepherdson from their World Cup stars - folded and the Waratahs began to run riot with four tries in 13 minutes.
Replacement Horne crossed in the 67th minute, hooker Polota-Nau in the 70th and centre Carter came up with two tries in four minutes when he scored in the 76th and 80th minutes.
A mismatch had always been on the cards as the Waratahs welcomed back nine Wallabies, but it was the young-guns they used predominantly in the second half who shone.
"We played the game far more how we'd like to in the second half," Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie said.
"You've got to give the Brumbies credit for the first half, they certainly disrupted us and put pressure on, but we were able to work through that and we got our territory, we got our pressure game going and tries resulted."
McKenzie said he had been expecting his Wallabies stars, including Freier, Dan Vickerman, Phil Waugh and Palu, to be rusty.
"I didn't expect them to come out there and it was all going to be rosy. They've got to get match fitness," he said.
Brumbies coach Fisher described the blow-out scoreline in his side's first hit-out of 2008 as "irrelevant" and singled out rising star Christian Lealiifano - a long-term candidate to replace Stephen Larkham at flyhalf - for praise as he steered his side around during the first half.
"I thought he was very, very composed. He looked fit, he looked quick out there, he ran the show. The composure he showed in the first half was absent completely in the second half," Fisher said.
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Rugby
