Saturday night, was probably the Plus500 Brumbies best performance in a decade, putting 54 points on the Chiefs being no common feat for any team.
The Brumbies never let the Waikato side in to the game and ended the encounter comfortably in front.But it was not luck or trickery which saw the home side triumph, it was a systematic beatdown by the Brumbies, a win which saw them score three fabulous tries that had their roots in forward pack excellence.
Indeed, the backline will take their well-earned plaudits for their fine display of running rugby, but the platform that allowed it was set by a forward pack that is at the peak of its powers through two rounds.
Starting right up the front, at scrum time. The Chiefs don’t have many headline names in the front row, no Taniela Tupou ‘Tongan Thor’ types but they are an exceptional scrummaging unit.
Even with the loss of All Black Karl Tu’inukuafe to the Blues in the offseason, the Chiefs remain one of the fiercest competitors in the rough stuff.
Their linchpin is Nepo Laulala at tighthead, and his battle with James Slipper on Saturday, for those of us who like to delve into the dark arts, was fantastic to watch.Slipper was whistled harshly for a penalty in the opening scrum, but from there was able to figure out and reel in Laulala and began to exert his dominance.
On the other side, Allan Alaalatoa was rock solid, neutralising the Chiefs Australian-born loosehead Aidan Harris.
The Brumbies lost nothing when their starters left the field either, with Scotty Sio looking back to his powerful self off the pine and Les Makin proving again, what a quality operator he can be when fit and firing.
On a physical level, scrum superiority makes all the difference in rugby, we all know that. Yes, it can be boring to watch, and any more than two resets will make your blood start to boil, but scrummaging is important, end of and the Brumbies have potentially the best group in the comp.
They laid the pill on a platter for Joe Powell to pull the strings, allowing Christian and the rest of the backs to flourish.Plus, you have to consider the psychological advantage of scrum pressure. It’s obviously unquantifiable, but anyone who has played the game knows how it feels to be on the wrong side of a setpiece hammering.
It’s crushing, for both backs and forwards and suddenly passes don’t go to hand and crucially, you begin to lose the collision battle.The Brumbies bested the Chiefs in almost every clash of bodies for the 80 minutes on Saturday.
They carried stronger, hit harder and owned the breakdown.We’ll remember the tries, the length of the field effort which saw Chance Peni seal a famous Brumbies win, but how the team shut down the Chiefs attack will likely fade, and that was propelled by the Brumbies pack.
With a brutal test coming against the ‘Canes this Friday, the Brumbies will know that the Chiefs performance can only be a benchmark for future performance, not a landmark outing to look back on.
After the ‘Canes comes a grudge match with the Rebels where the Brumbies will look to exercise their Round one demons in Melbourne.
Then, the old rivals come to town. Brumbies v Waratahs, Friday night lights, the fixture every Brumbies fan lives for.
