Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa says his side’s failure to seize key moments have cost them a Super Rugby Pacific statement win, beaten 32-27 by the Hurricanes at Sky Stadium in Wellington.
In a clash of two top-four outfits on Friday night, they stuck with the hosts throughout an edgy contest until Hurricanes five-eighth Aidan Morgan scampered over 12 minutes from time to break things open.
The Brumbies certainly weren’t outclassed in their toughest test of the year and led after two first-half tries for Nick Frost, but the hosts eventually wore them down.
Alaalatoa said some fundamental mistakes had stopped them piecing together the sort of display they’ll need to produce to threaten Kiwi sides come finals, the only blemishes on their 7-2 record their two trips overseas.
No Australian team has beaten a New Zealand-based side across the ditch through the competition’s first 10 rounds, sitting with an unenviable 0-8 record.
“It was physical, something we expected,” Alaalatoa told Sky Sport.
“A big game, it always comes down to little key moments, which we probably weren’t too good at tonight.
“A lot of dropped balls and missed one-on-one tackles, so you’ve got to take your hat off to the Hurricanes.”
Two brilliant counter-attacking efforts from the visitors kept things tight early, with towering lock Frost crossing the line to cap both of them.
Winger Corey Toole flashed his electric speed to break the home side’s line and create the first for a 7-0 lead, before 206cm-forward Frost jagged an intercept and showed his own pace to run 75m.
They’d conceded twice in between those two tries, including via a clever short lineout routine that had seen Hurricanes No.8 Ardie Savea put his side in front.
Cam Roigard scored a seventh try in nine outings from a sneaky scoot out of the ruck early in the second stanza, before the Brumbies’ rolling maul dragged some points back courtesy of Rory Scott.
Coming off their first bye of the year, Alaalatoa admitted they’d struggled to find their best.
“Obviously it’s good to get away to freshen up a bit, but you probably do lose a bit of a flow and your momentum,” he said.
“We probably saw that tonight, rusty in a couple of key areas that we’re normally good at. There’s some tough learnings that we’ll be better for.
“We can’t overthink that loss, but we’ve got to look at key areas and understand where we can grow.”
The loss was further soured by a suspected knee injury two minutes from time for Ben O’Donnell, the bench winger collapsing while carrying the ball and needing to be helped from the field.
They won’t head back to NZ until any potential final, but will face the Highlanders (seventh) and Chiefs (first) in the run-in.
“We knew the Brumbies would come here and put up a really good fight, in the past we’ve got the L so we’re really stoked to get the W today,” Hurricanes skipper Savea told Sky Sport.
“It’s just about sticking good moments and when we don’t, it’s about what we do next.
“I’m proud of the boys to come back in the second half and start well, which let us down against the Chiefs.”
