Match Details

Brumbies

VS

Crusaders (NZ)

15

Canberra Kick off times: 7:40pm (Local) Sat 28 Apr 7:40pm (AEST) Sat 28 Apr

6

The Brumbies kept in finals contention with a gritty 15-6 win over the competition-leading Crusaders in the penultimate round of the Investec Super 14 at Canberra Stadium.

The result also sent Canberra heroes Stephen Larkham, George Gregan, and Jeremy Paul away with a win from their last home game for the Brumbies, with the Gregan-Larkham stand unveiled to the crowd prior to the match.

The Crusaders were unable to continue their six-match unbeaten run while the Brumbies notched up their own five-match winning streak in front of a vocal crowd of 20,127.

The contest was tense, with two of the most-successful sides in Super rugby kept try-less due to a big defensive effort from both sides.

It was a nervous start from the Brumbies as they lost possession immediately after kick-off, and although they were able to steady themselves, the Crusaders drew first blood.

Crusaders flyhalf Daniel Carter slotted a close-range penalty after five minutes for an early tackle by the Brumbies to open the scoring.

However, Brumbies captain Stirling Mortlock levelled the scores minutes later with a penalty of his own when play was brought back for offside, but he then missed a chance to put his side in front with the Brumbies' second kickable penalty of the night.

After a scrappy patch in the middle of the first half in which both sides had attacking opportunities, the Brumbies took the lead via Mortlock's boot with just over ten minutes remaining until the break.

Crusaders captain Richie McCaw was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knockdown, and Mortlock had no problem with the kick, making it 6-3 in the Brumbies' favour.

Handling errors cost both sides from scoring the first try of the match, but Julian Huxley sent the home crowd into the break in confident mood with a long-range penalty after the half-time whistle.

The second half was dominated by a huge defensive effort from both sides, and a stalemate prevailed until the 58th minute, when Carter slotted his second penalty of the night to reduce the deficit to three.

Mortlock restored the Brumbies' advantage with another penalty with 12 minutes left on the clock.

The Brumbies' defence was relentless towards the death, and Larkham sent the home crowd into raptures with a drop-goal to put the Brumbies 15-6 in front with only minutes remaining.

The home side play sensible rugby to run down the clock and hold on for the crucial win that sees then one point out of the top four ahead of next week's final-round match against the Highlanders in Dunedin.

Brumbies 15

Penalties: Mortlock 3/4, Huxley 1/2

Drop-goal: Larkham

Crusaders 6

Penalties: Carter 2/2

Crowd: 20, 127

Referee: Marius Jonker

At Canberra Stadium