AS we reported in last week’s Bombala Times, local rugby union player, Raymond Kading had been selected to play in the Brumbies Provincial side against the NSW Police over the weekend.
In very good news for Raymond and the team, the Brumbies won, and following is a report on the game from Brumbies Rugby.
By Ryley McKay
Like a thief in the night the Brumbies Provincial team snatched a 25-23 win after the full-time siren from Australian Police XV, at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.
With just 14 minutes left to play, the team showed that you should never say die, gunning down the 13 point lead held by Australian Police XV.
Wearing jersey number 19, it was Brumbies Provincial flyhalf Jack Burey, who got the job done, much to the delight of his teammates and the building home crowd.
“I didn’t get the chance to practice this week and I didn’t play last week so it was pretty good to get the one that counts,” said a relieved Burey.
“The game was pretty scrappy. We had two thrown together teams, it was always going to be tough, but I’m just glad my kick went over in the end.”
Australian Police XV came out swinging early, looking threatening with numerous attacking raids led by Dusty Elsom and Jamie McDonald, however Brumbies Provincial were able to repel the constant pressure.
After being promoted from the bench to starting flyhalf Jack Burey got the scoreboard ticking over with a successful penalty conversion 13 minutes in.
The Brumbies provincial team held onto this lead, until a barnstorming Gary McNeil touched down following some smart forward play at the breakdown from Australian Police XV.
With the score now 8-3 Australian Police XV looked to have found their attacking mojo, with Jamie McDonald testing out Brumbies Provincial defence with some enterprising backline play.
McDonald couldn’t get his team over the line with their high percentage of possession, so he used his boot instead, extending their lead to 11-3.
The game was given a new lease of life just on the stroke of half time when the Brumbies’ James Whitely scored straight from the back of the lineout. The scoreboard now read 11-10 in the visitors’ favour.
Whatever was said at halftime to Police XV seemed to work, as they immediately lifted the tempo of the game and reaped the rewards with another try to Gary McNeil and with Jim Goodall’s first of the day.
But Brumbies Provincial stemmed the tide and showed their never say die attitude. Through the fleet-footed Hamish Wrafter, they were able to split the Australian Police XV defence on the counter attack, putting Xavier Chigwidden over for a five-pointer.
The score now was 23-15 in Police’s favour and things weren’t looking good for the visitors when Louie Levett scored and Jack Burey converted to cut Police XV’s lead to one point with five minutes to play.
Brumbies fans who got to the game early were the benefactors when Brumbies Provincial surged downfield to apply the pressure with two minutes left on the clock.
Australian Police XV then gave away a crucial penalty on full-time and flyhalf Jack Burey stepped up and won the game for the Provincial Brumbies. The final score 25-23.
Australian Police Rugby captain Dusty Elsom was realistic in assessing his team’s performance following the game.
“Everytime we play them it is a tough game, they’ve always got some big country boys who hit the ball up constantly and they just keep coming in waves.
“We started really well, we just missed our throws on the line-outs and that let us down in the end,” he said.