Brumbies farewell Giteau in 32-17 win - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Brumbies farewell Giteau in 32-17 win

Ed Logue 10/06/2011 10:50:58 PM Comments (0)

Flyhalf Matt Giteau scored a try and had a hand in three others as the Brumbies enjoyed a 32-17 Super Rugby win over the Melbourne Rebels on Friday.

The home side scored five tries to two at Canberra Stadium to post their first back-to-back wins since May 2010 and reverse their 25-24 loss in Melbourne earlier this season.

The Rebels claimed an unwanted record, their 12th loss being the worst tally for an Australian side in a Super season.

It consigned the Melbourne side to the wooden spoon in the Australian conference in their maiden year.

Brumbies captain Giteau scored 12 points in his last match in Canberra before joining French side Toulon following the Rugby World Cup later this year.

A crowd of 11,777 farewelled Giteau, winger Adam Ashley-Cooper, scrumhalf Patrick Phibbs and No.8 Mitchell Chapman as the Brumbies played their best game at home in 2011 and their fourth win from 15 games.

Crowds have dwindled during the worst season for the two-time Super champions to an average of 13,114, their lowest since 1999.

Christian Lealiifano put the Brumbies ahead in the third minute as the fullback stepped inside Rebels winger Cooper Vuna for the first try.

Rebels five-eighth Danny Cipriani kicked a penalty to make it 5-3.

But as the first half progressed, the Brumbies' aggressive defence and ability to find gaps in their opponents defensive line bore fruit.

Tries to centre Tyrone Smith and Giteau in four minutes pushed the home side to 18-3 at the break.

Hooker Stephen Moore continued the momentum in the second half in breaking the line from 30 metres out before offloading to inside centre Pat McCabe to cross to the left of the posts for a 25-3 lead after 44 minutes.

But the visitors, led by former Brumbies captain Stirling Mortlock, posted tries to breakaway Jarrod Saffy and reserve back Afusipa Taumoepeau in six minutes to narrow the score to 25-17.

Brumbies hooker Stephen Moore's try from a rolling maul settled the match with seven minutes to go.

Brumbies coach Tony Rea said his men were able to grind out a win when they were not playing their best, something they had not previously accomplished this year.

"We weren't 100 per cent of where we wanted to be," Rea said.

"We recognised that and found ways to get past that rather than give into that and let that beat us.

"That is a massive stride for this group to be able to deal with this, actually hang in there and find some result out of that."

Giteau acknowledged he had a memorable final appearance at Canberra Stadium.

"A bonus point win at home is pretty special," he said.

"We got into a period there where we dropped off but we were able to pick it up again, so it is a good feeling.

"The change room is feeling good, the guys are really happy."

Rebels coach Rod Macqueen said defence let his side down once again.

"You can't play at this level of competition and let in soft tries like that, it kills the whole team," Macqueen said.

"It is the one-on-one things that happen out wide and it's happened all year and it is just a team killer in a lot of ways."

Macqueen said he was pleased with the return of Cipriani following his time on the sidelines due to off-field issues since late April.

"I thought Danny did well in his first game back after being out of it for a while, that made a bit of a difference to us," he said.

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