The ACT Brumbies ground out a 20-3 win over South Africa’s Central Cheetahs to stretch their unbeaten Super Rugby home run to 11 games in Canberra on Saturday.
The well-drilled Brumbies controlled the rucks and mauls to beat the Cheetahs two tries to one to consolidate their lead at the top of Australia’s conference.
It was the Brumbies’ seventh straight win over the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs in Canberra and continues their unbeaten run at home from early last season.
The last time the Brumbies lost at Canberra Stadium was against the Queensland Reds 27-17 in February last year.
Inside-centre Christian Lealiifano finished with 15 points from a try, two conversions and two penalty goals, while lock Blake Enever plunged over for his first Super Rugby try. Joe Pietersen kicked the Cheetahs only points.
The Brumbies, with David Pocock outstanding in the rucks and mauls, built up a 13-3 lead at halftime and were never in any danger against the Cheetahs, who slumped to their fifth straight loss.
Lealiifano brushed aside a feeble tackle from fly-half Pietersen in just the fourth minute to score a soft try, before Enever powered over five minutes after the interval to tighten the Brumbies’ grip on the match.
The Brumbies’ winning margin would have been greater but for a disputed disallowed try to Matt Toomua in the first half and Henry Speight losing the ball over the try-line midway through the second half.
“I think the biggest positive to come out of the game was our defence, they score twenty points a game on average so to keep them to three was massive,” Toomua said.
Skipper Stephen Moore praised the Brumbies’ maul defence.
“I thought our defence was really good, particularly our maul defence and our one-on-one tackles,” he said.
“It would have been nice to get the four tries for the bonus point, but sometimes that’s the way the game goes.”
Cheetahs captain Francois Uys said his team played well in patches.
“Our accuracy let us down, we didn’t really execute some of the plays and I think one or two opportunities didn’t go our way,” Uys said.
“We tried to keep it a bit tight, but the Brumbies defended the maul extremely well, especially in the first half while we were on their goal-line, and we didn’t come away with any points and in the second half we were chasing the game.”
The Brumbies cross the Tasman next week to face the Blues in Auckland, while the Cheetahs head to Perth to play Western Force on their way home.