ACT's hopes of a top-two finish remain intact following Friday night's 53-17 thrashing of Australian rivals Melbourne.
A three-try blitz before half time saw the Brumbies rocket out from a 13-3 lead to 34-3 before laying on two tries in the final 10 minutes to ice a resounding win.
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Here's what we learnt:
It’s not often you see teams exploit a one-man advantage as ruthlessly as the Brumbies did on Friday night.
Darby Lancaster’s yellow card for repeated ruck infringements on the 31-minute mark prompted a three-try blitz from ACT with Tom Wright, Nick Frost and Billy Pollard all crossing for five pointers.
The result - 21 points in seven minutes that saw the Brumbies rocket out from a 13-3 lead to 34-3 and effectively end the contest by half time.
It's a strong sign of the Brumbies' ability to identify space on the paddock with Corey Toole running rampant in Lancaster's absence.
ACT might’ve exploited Lancaster’s yellow but coach Steven Larkham won’t be happy with the Brumbies’ triple cheese in the second half.
First, it was Jahrome Brown in the naughty chair for repeated team ruck infringements in the 54th minute before Tamati Tua joined him following a high tackle three minutes later.
Len Ikitau completed the hat-trick in the 66th minute – again for repeated team infringements – as Angelo Smith crossed for the Rebels’ second to give them the faintest of sniffs.
Rhy Van Nek’s try in the 71st minute effectively ended any hopes of a Melbourne bonus point but the Brumbies can’t afford to give away three yellow cards come a home quarter final.
Their powerful second half scrum aside, Melbourne weren't good enough on Friday night and Josh Canham nailed a few home truths in the post-game with Stan Sport's Sera Naiqama.
The Rebels lock said his side "gifted a lot of opportunities" to the Brumbies and when "you make that many mistakes, the scoreline's going to turn out like it turned out."
"It's just staying in a game for the full 80. Too many we’ve been in for 40, 60, 70 minutes but not the full 80," he added.
Not "staying in the game" is the story of the Rebels' back half of the season with Melbourne dropping their past five games in a row.
Now, it looks like their maiden finals berth will be riding on the outcome of next week's clash with the Fijian Drua in Fiji.
Rugby.com.au scribe Nathan Williamson touched on it last week while covering the Brumbies-Crusaders match but Tom Wright is surely the man wearing gold against Wales in July.
Wright backed up his two-try haul against the Crusaders with another brace against Melbourne on Friday night and came up with a try-saver of his own to stop Darby Lancaster on the paint.
The Brumby showed power with his first to flatten Brad Wilkin en route to the try line and pace with his second, blasting onto a Rhys Van Nek short ball and outpacing Andrew Kellaway home.
It might not have been a TKO on Kellaway in the fullback race but judge's decision would surely favour Wright.
It didn't take long for the post-game chat to turn towards next week's Force-Brumbies clash in Perth - and for good reason.
The Westerners crippled ACT's hopes of a home semi final last year and are eyeing off a similar result this year with the likes of Nic White already stirring the pot (according to Tom Wright's post-game assessment).
The Force need a win over Queensland Reds tomorrow night to keep their own finals bid alive but will regardless be treating the Brumbies game as a must win.
Will the Brumbies make the same mistake of resting the front-line players from a Perth trip? Better doubt it.
