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Nerves of steel ... Christian Lealiifano nails a penalty goal after the siren to defeat the Bulls. Source: Kym Smith / News Limited
An after-the-siren 45-metre penalty goal to inside centre Christian Lealiifano snatched the Brumbies a dramatic 23-20 Super Rugby win over the Bulls in Canberra on Saturday night.
The Bulls locked the scores up with one minute to go when outside centre Johannes Engelbrecht scored in the corner from a turnover and Morne Steyn converted.
| 1 Tries 2 | |
|---|---|
| Robbie Coleman 40' | Jurgen Visser 49' |
| JJ Engelbrecht 79' | |
| 0 Conversions2 | |
| Morne Steyn 50' | |
| Morne Steyn 80' | |
| 6 Penalties2 | |
| Christian Lealiifano 19' | Morne Steyn 21' |
| Christian Lealiifano 33' | Morne Steyn 54' |
| Christian Lealiifano 37' | |
| Christian Lealiifano 70' | |
| Christian Lealiifano 74' | |
| Christian Lealiifano 80' | |
But the South Africans pushed for the win after the hooter and were penalised directly in front of their own posts.
Lealiifano, who had only missed one shot at goal in six attempts all night, stepped up and nailed it in front of 13,735 fans.
Lealiifano said some teammates tried not to look him in the eye before the match-winning kick.
"It was a bit patchy where it was, and I tried to move it forward and do all those kinds of things to sneak it in," he said.
"But it was one of those things where I've kicked it during the week and just hoped I'd hit it right on the night and luckily enough it went over."
| Australia Conference | W | L | D | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brumbies | 5 | 1 | 0 | 73 | 3 | 27 |
| 2 | Reds | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 22 |
| 3 | Waratahs | 2 | 3 | 0 | -30 | 1 | 13 |
| 4 | Western Force | 1 | 4 | 0 | -31 | 1 | 9 |
| 5 | Melbourne Rebels | 1 | 4 | 0 | -82 | 1 | 9 |
| New Zealand Conference | W | L | D | PD | BP | Pts | |
| 1 | Chiefs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 84 | 5 | 25 |
| 2 | Hurricanes | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | Blues | 2 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 17 |
| 4 | Crusaders | 2 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 4 | 16 |
| 5 | Highlanders | 0 | 5 | 0 | -48 | 2 | 6 |
| South Africa Conference | W | L | D | PD | BP | Pts | |
| 1 | Sharks | 4 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 1 | 21 |
| 2 | Bulls | 3 | 3 | 0 | -5 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 | Stormers | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 | Cheetahs | 3 | 2 | 0 | -22 | 1 | 13 |
| 5 | Southern Kings | 1 | 4 | 0 | -59 | 0 | 8 |
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke questioned the last play turnover from Brumbies replacement Colby Faingaa, saying he believed the Brumbies defensive line were offside at the time.
"Clearly offside, definitely, we just looked at it," he said.
"I've just seen those guys going before the ball is out, to charge Morne (Steyn) down, they knew Morne was going to kick.
"But you know that's the game, it would have given us another point, but that's life.
"We don't want to give it energy, the whole season is ahead of us, it was a great effort and we're going to go with that."
White said it was just one call that could have gone either way in a tough encounter.
Re-live all the action from the Brumbies' last-gasp win over the Bulls, with video of the dying stages, at our Super Rugby Match Centre.
"The margins are so small in this competition that those sort of calls, if they go for you that's fantastic," White said.
The Bulls finished strong for the second week running, working back an 11-point halftime deficit, but once again fell just short of snatching a last-minute Super Rugby result.
The Brumbies scrum dominated the Bulls throughout the match, culminating in a yellow card to loosehead prop Morne Mellet in the 65th minute for repeated scrum infringements.
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With the Bulls scrum one man down, the Brumbies pressed home their advantage and nine minutes later Lealiifano kicked his fifth penalty goal of the night after another scrum infringement.
Both sides began the match playing a very conservative style of rugby, choosing to minimise the risk of being penalised in their own half by kicking it immediately rather than running.
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A 9-3 lead to the Brumbies late in the first half gave them the confidence to run the ball more, retaining possession for over a dozen phases before fullback Robbie Coleman scrambled over the tryline after the halftime siren.
A rejuvenated Bulls declined a penalty shot directly after halftime and after several phases winger Lionel Mapoe crashed over the line only to lose the ball in a last ditch tackle by Brumbies winger Henry Speight.
However fellow winger Petrus Visser made amends in the 49th minute when he finished off a well worked passage of play from the Bulls.
