Force v Brumbies - 20 to 30 Minutes - The Tide Turns
By 22:00 the score board had moved onto F 0:17 B with a well-worked try resulting from a great Fardy run and offload to Toomua.
The painful rugby continued and at 24:00 Lees on cue calls a KO advantage to the Force "over" even before they get a chance to get over the gain line. "Can we go back to the scrum please Sir?"
By this stage the
Brumbies had had 85% possession.
26:00 - Fardy is penalised (P#1) for not supporting his weight. He is gobsmacked.
The cloak has stopped working.
26:22 - Tessman has a little hold of Moore's shirt at a ruck. Moore in disbelief that he's been touched by an upstart.
26:49 - Penalty (P#2) goes against the Brumbies and eventually Cubelli gets YC'd for kicking the ball away. This results from Hodgo finally tired of the BS and tries to bring the kick to Lees' attention. Moore continues as his billigerent self and pushes Hodgo away with disdain. Hodgo doesn't want to lose the opportunity. Moore too is gobsmacked and just a bit rattled.
29:16 Scrum penalty (P#3) against the Brumbies!!!!???? Hodgo doesn't take the easy points.
29:30 Another penalty (P#4) against the Brumbies - Fardy for being off his feet (AGAIN) - 2nd in 5.5 minutes close to try line. AGAIN Hodgo is prevented getting access to the ball (for a quick start) as Moore picks it up and slowly walks across and places it at Lees' feet. Mouthing something like: "I don't know what HIS problem is!" The Sea of Blue were only too happy to explain it to both Moore and Lees. Hodgo takes the crap from Moore and Lees in his stride and again doesn't take the easy points
Wth 4 penalties against the Brumbies in 3.5 minutes the tide turns, Moore is very rattled, Fardy on a final warning (and can't believe it) and the Force start to play some good rugby.
There's a real invigoration arising from the Brumbies actually getting some penalties (now a bit more even at F7:6B).
By end of 30 minutes, the Brumbies had had 93 Ruck Involvements compared to the Force's 59.
Almost exactly the same as for the previous week - Brumbies 90 RIs v Waratahs 49 RIs. (Brumbies 8:5 Tahs)
Finally at 30:00 we have a game on our hands. Over the next 50 minutes both teams score 2 tries and 17 points.
Apologies for the delay in posting - needed some sleep.