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July 25, 2009 - 12:29PM
The Brumbies have kicked off their French tour with a 20-12 loss to CS Bourgoin-Jallieu at Stade Pierre Rajon.
Despite scoring two tries to the home side's one, the Brumbies were guilty of giving up penalties within kicking range, with the French Top 14 club capitalising with five goals.
Trailing 14-12 with six minutes remaining, the visitors forfeited an opportunity to take a late lead when flyhalf Matt Toomua missed a relatively straightforward penalty attempt in front of the posts.
Bourgoin-Jallieu were quick to respond by kicking a 50-metre penalty goal of their own before landing another on fulltime to extend their final margin to eight points.
In a match that lacked rhythm and structure, the Brumbies struggled with the referees interpretation at the breakdown while the ACT side's set piece was also disjointed for most of the match.
The limited clean ball frustrated the Brumbies backline and prevented any useful possession in a game where their execution was problematic.
The Australians were also disrupted by a constant stream of players to the blood bin, with six players receiving off-field attention for blood during the match, including three at one time.
Brumbies outside centre Andrew Smith was a regular threat in attack, continually breaking tackles and earning a try on debut for his province.
Trailing 3-0 and with halftime approaching, the Brumbies worked the ball to inside the Bourgoin-Jallieu quarter before Smith found space down the left side, dummied to the wing and fended off his opposite number to score.
However, the 7-3 lead was short-lived with the Frenchmen crossing for their lone try of the match in the closing stages of the half.
Bourgoin-Jallieu extended their lead to 14-7 through two further penalty goals after the break, before Brumbies replacement lock Sitaleki Timani powered over to bring his side to within two points midway through the term.
The five-pointer came on the back of a strong forward foundation with the ACT pack, stringing together six phases of controlled pick-and-drive inside the Bourgoin-Jallieu quarter before Timani crashed over from close range.
In what was a tight struggle and largely devoid of open running rugby, ad lib counter attack was often the Brumbies' only opportunity for any quality attack with the ball in hand.
To this end, the Brumbies back three, including Francis Fainifo and Pat McCabe, looked dangerous with ball in hand while winger Alfi Mafi also constructed several good runs.
Captain Stephen Hoiles and young flanker Colby Faingaa were also busy throughout the match, particularly at the breakdown.
Coach Darren Coleman was pleased to see his side contest the match through until the last minute, however, recognised that a heavy travel load where the side travelled more than 40 hours in the first two days of the tour had taken its toll.
Flanker Tevita Metuisela was the only injury concern for the Brumbies with a knee injury while Guy Shepherdson and Henry Vanderglas are expected to be available for the side's next match against Aviron Bayonnais in Bayonne on Wednesday morning AEST.
© 2009 AAP
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news...0725-dwm0.html
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