A gutsy defensive effort has seen the Brumbies record a stunning 19-17 Super Rugby victory over the Stormers in Cape Town.
Christian Lealiifano Photo: Photosport
Seeking their first away win of the season, the Brumbies made the most of their rare visits into Stormers' territory with three tries then pulled off a massive 226 tackles to come out on top.
Captain Christian Lealiifano described the Brumbies' performance as "an incredible effort from our group".
"(The Stormers) just kept us under pressure the whole time and we couldn't really unlock our backline the way we wanted," Lealiifano said.
"We had to find other ways and our defence was that today, we took our opportunities today when we did get them and the boys definitely saved some as well."
In a controversial end to the first half, a video review after the halftime whistle saw a penalty try awarded to the Stormers with Brumbies winger Toni Pulu earning a yellow card for a high tackle on halfback Herschel Jantjies.
The ruling reduced the Brumbies' advantage to 12-10 with the Stormers taking their first lead early in the second half but Tom Banks put the visitors back in front after 58 minutes and their defence stood tall under immense pressure to close out a famous victory.
The result gives the Brumbies back-to-back wins as they move within reach of the Rebels and Waratahs in the Australian conference ahead of next week's trip to Argentina to play the Jaguares.
Earlier, the Waratahs showed spirit and resilience after Bernard Foley's second-half blitz breathed fresh life in their Super Rugby season.
Firstly rocked, then galvanised, by the Israel Folau firestorm, the Waratahs overcame a week of turmoil and a 13-point halftime deficit to down the Melbourne Rebels 23-20 on Saturday night and regain control of their finals fate.
Foley scored all 16 points in the Waratahs' second-half fightback from 20-7 down at the break in skipper Michael Hooper's milestone 100th game for NSW.
Coach Daryl Gibson admitted his side had been left mentally and physically exhausted by the Folau affair, with Super Rugby's all-time leading try-scorer issued with a breach of contract notice by Rugby Australia last Wednesday for his homophobic social media posts.
"I'm very pleased with the grit we showed. Particularly given the circumstances of the week, that was a really subdued changing room," Gibson said.
With the Rebels having a bye week to regroup after successive defeats, the Waratahs can go top of the conference with another home triumph over the Sharks next Saturday.
And on Friday, the Queensland Reds closed their South Africa trip on a high by defeating the Sharks 21-14 in Durban.
With captain Samu Kerevi leading from the front, the Reds ran in three tries to two at Jonsson Kings Park to record their first win in Durban since 2004.
-AAP/Reuters
