James Slipper scores in milestone match as Brumbies upset defending champions in 26-year boilover
Updated . First published
This article originally appeared on Stuff and is reproduced with permission
An early season hole, and there's no easy way out of it.
That's the reality for the defending champion Crusaders, after copping a 50-24 hammering at the hands of the Brumbies on Sunday afternoon.
And this wasn't just any victory for the Brumbies, it was their first over the Crusaders in Christchurch since 2000.
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The Brumbies celebrate a try. Getty
They did it in style, running amok with three tries inside the final seven minutes after the Crusaders briefly threatened to comeback.
Forget it. The Crusaders made too many mistakes for that, leaving them 0-2 to start their title defence.
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Post-match, Ben Castle put it to Brumbies star Andy Muirhead if he knew how long it'd been since his side had won at Christchurch.
"I have no idea," he replied.
26 years he was told.
"We've come over here and had some really tough battles," Muirhead said on Sky Sports.
Andy Muirhead speaks after the Brumbies' win. Stan Sport
"We know this place is a fortress so we had a really good week, just trying to reset ourselves after last weekend and I think our piggies were really good today, they were quite physical and put it to their forward pack which gets us in the right places."
If the Crusaders are to climb out of the hole, they're going to have to beat the unbeaten Chiefs and Blues on the road the next fortnight and if they don't find a way to get out of their own way, they're unlikely to get their head above water in anytime soon.
A week after a clunky performance cost them under the roof in Dunedin, they were again poor on a dry and fast track at Apollo Projects Stadium.
Handling errors, a faltering lineout, a lopsided penalty count (10-5), and yellow cards to Dominic Gardiner and Antonio Shalfoon all played a part in dooming them.
As did some uncharacteristically soft tackling as the Brumbies, up 19-14 at halftime, turned to face the easterly breeze and kicked home.
Many Crusaders fans had seen enough before the fulltime whistle went, heading for the exits after No 6 Rob Valetini crashed over with three minutes to play to put the game beyond doubt.
The positive for those fans is they didn't have to watch rapid wing Corey Toole leave a host of Crusaders in his wake as he ran in a long-range try.
Corey Toole scores for the Brumbies. Getty
It was the Brumbies' eighth try of the match, and their fifth of a brilliant second half.
No 8 Charlie Cale accounted for two of them as the Crusaders, clearly fatigued after essentially defending the entire first half, faded.
The Crusaders were too often their own worst enemy, including during a mistake-riddled and ill-disciplined opening half, which included a card to Shalfoon.
Referee Ben O'Keeffe sent him to the bin on the back of repeat penalties inside their own 22, which is essentially where the Crusaders spent much of the opening half.
Indeed, on the back of a 6-0 penalty count, and a healthy breeze, the Brumbies enjoyed 85% territory and 57% of possession.
It meant wave after wave of Brumbies' assaults at the hosts, who produced plenty of thumping hits but couldn't muster any reward at the breakdown.
Forced to make 130 tackles to the Brumbies' 49, they eventually cracked three times on the back of the relentless pressure.
That included a try to prop James Slipper, who was marking his 200th Super Rugby game 16 years after debuting for the Reds.
His try came on the back of a wonky George Bell lineout throw inside the Crusaders' 22, one of a number of mistakes they made inside their own half.
James Slipper scores. Getty
Will Jordan made another, kicking a ball out on the full from inside his 22 after the ball was taken back.
Braydon Ennor also spilled a pass from Jordan during a rare breakout, while wing Sevu Reece was guilty of kicking the ball away on a counter.
As the game wore on, there was an increasing sense the Crusaders were becoming frustrated with O'Keeffe.
But they can only blame themselves for what will go down as one of their worst performances at their Addington venue, which they will farewell after games against the Highlanders and Fijian Drua.
At times, as the Crusaders continued to fluff chances in the second half, it appeared as if they couldn't wait to get out of the place.
They closed to within striking distance a couple of times, including when wing Reece scored in the 57th minute, signalling signs the usual second half surge the Crusaders are renowned for was on.
But the Brumbies, whose best player was arguably fullback Muirhead, kept cutting open the hosts and eventually put them to the sword.
Talk about a statement from the Canberra-based side, which didn't concede a penalty until the 49th minute of the game.
It did, however, result in a yellow card to lock Cadeyrn Neville, who tackled halfback Noah Hotham a few metres after he took a quick tap.
The Brumbies had no need to worry, the Crusaders promptly blew the opportunity inside the 22 - a theme of their season to date.
