Coach Dan McKellar has praised his teams balanced performance in their resounding 54-17 victory over the Chiefs.
In Particular, the performances of Brumbies winger Chance Peni and backrow standout Tom Cusack caught McKellar’s eye, with both having missed out on places in the 23 the previous week.
Peni had an outstanding game on the left wing, displaying his finishing ability with two tries. On both occasions Peni showed great speed to get into space and support some brilliant Brumbies attacking play.“He did everything right,”McKellar explained.“
He took the opportunities when the ball came wide. He’s a very dangerous footballer in space.
“The difference tonight is we took our opportunities when we did go wide. I’m really pleased for the guys who got their first chance in a while, pardon the pun, Chance Peni being one of them.”
At openside, Cusack was an ever-present force on the paddock for the Brumbies, filling in for the injured David Pocock.
McKellar said Cusack is an example of the excellent depth the squad has, stating that Cusack’s effort and abilities were key factors in the win.
“He’s reliable, isn’t he?” McKellar commented.“
He does his job really well. I was shattered he missed out week one because he deserved to be there, but it was just the quality that we had, and I had to make a choice.
"His work rate, his communication, his repeat efforts, that’s why we started him tonight. We knew with the threats that the Chiefs had that we’d need work rate and effort in defence and ‘Sacky’ gave us all those things.”
Christian Lealiifano wound back the clock to produce a sensational display of front foot attacking rugby.He had a hand in near every try, including assisting Chance Peni twice, and coach McKellar believes his fitness is the source of his rejuvenated play.
“He was good,” McKellar said.
“I think he’s in good shape. Strong and in good nick, he’d come back from Japan fit and sharp. His running game was outstanding tonight and that’s always been his strength.”
McKellar was pleased with his teams outstanding turn around in attitude following the loss against the Melbourne Rebels last week and is hoping that the team can carry forward the energy displayed in Saturday’s performance. He expects a tough battle from the wounded Hurricanes.
“They’ll probably welcome a couple guys back, from what I’ve heard they lost tonight so they’ll be determined to turn that around. But we can take a lot of confidence and belief out of tonight and out of the week.”
Words: Eamon Moore
