Brumbies started good against the Force but couldn't get the BP, faded against the Bulls and a last minute conversion missed saved them against the Stormers. Still not living up to their billing as the dream team.
They were extremely unlucky against the Bulls, with the ref and the bounce of the ball going against them.
It seems like the Brumbies are falling foul of having a bad reputation at scrums - no matter who was to blame for scrum collapses last night, Craig Joubert blew against them. It was comical in the second half when you could see the entire Stormers pack ram foward into the Brumbies before engage was called, only for the ref to blow a penalty against the Brumbies for early engagement. Apparently you can do that while standing still with the other team coming on to you.
There was also the case where, on a number of occasions, the Stormers dropped their bind on engage yet the Brumbies got penalised for it.
Despite that, the only thing really stopping the Brumbies from looking better is discipline in and around the breakdown. Joubert was all over the place last night, penalising players from both teams despite them clearly releasing a number of times, but the discipline has been sorely lacking in the previous matches.
Get that right, and the Brumbies would have been 3 from 3 and looking good.
Lets not forget that they have still won 2 from 3 and now have the big overseas trip out of the way. Most teams would absolutely kill to have that sort of record. Add to that the fact that, of the 5 South African teams they have played by far the best 2 away from home, and I think your criticism is extremely harsh.
I thought Giteau looked a little out of sorts last night too, and Elsom struggled to get into the game the way he did against the Bulls. Too many dropped balls last night as well cost them dearly. They'll get a lot of confidence out of last night too... they didn't really play that well yet still came away with 4 points.
I can honestly see them going the rest of the season undefeated. They are looking really, really good. The Crusaders clash will be epic.
