The Brumbies booked a home Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final against the Hurricanes by beating the Rebels 33-17 in Canberra on Friday.
The victory ensured the Brumbies will finish fourth at the end of the regular season and the Hurricanes are locked into fifth regardless of the outcome of their clash with the Crusaders on Saturday.
It also means the Rebels are eliminated from the finals race and will finish with another dismal 4-10 record.
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“We just got dominated in the territory battle,” Rebels five-eighth Carter Gordon told Stan Sport.
“We didn’t play where we wanted to play and got a bit out of shape sometimes and struggled to get back into it.
“The Brumbies are pretty clinical on picking up on errors and a few full-length tries, and if they didn’t score, they’d put us all the way back down to our 22. It was tough to play out of. So that’s on us.”
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The Brumbies scored five tries to two and fullback Tom Wright’s finish from a sweeping counter attack was the pick of them.
It was also a gut punch for the Rebels, who competed manfully at the breakdown but didn’t quite have the all-round game to match the Brumbies.
Breakout winger Corey Toole, Connal McInerney, Ollie Sapsford and Andy Muirhead were the other Brumbies try-scorers on a night in which departing Wallabies Reece Hodge and Pete Samu notched 100 Super Rugby games.
Gordon, who scored a sharp first half try, will now likely join the Wallabies squad for their Rugby Championship campaign – but wasn’t counting his chickens.
“I played a few good games,” Gordon said.
“I’m pretty disappointed at that last game there. But yeah, I’ve learned a lot this season.”
Toole, who was not picked by Eddie Jones in his first Wallabies training squad, continued to press his claims with an eye-catching first half try.
“That’s what he does probably better than any winger in the competition,” former Wallabies backrower Stephen Hoiles said on Stan Sport.
“He makes half a yard become a five pointer.”
NEW PODCAST! Sean Maloney, Morgan Turinui and Stephen Hoiles unpack the drama of the Super Rugby Pacific finals race and some thrilling fixtures in the northern hemisphere
The Brumbies also hosted the Hurricanes in a quarter-final last year, prevailing 35-25 at GIO Stadium before losing a heartbreaking semi-final 20-19 against the Blues at Eden Park.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham was naturally delighted to snap a two match losing streak ahead of the finals but made it clear in his post-match interview that simply making the playoffs was not enough.
The Brumbies will be the only Australian team to host a quarter-final after New Zealand’s Chiefs, Crusaders and Blues locked up the top three spots.
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