Latest news with #AllanAlaalatoa
News.com.au
14-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Chiefs defeat Brumbies 37-17 in semi-final to end Australia's hopes of Super Rugby title
More than a decade since the last title, Australia's long wait for a Super Rugby champion goes on. The Brumbies gave it a fair crack in their 37-17 defeat to the Chiefs on Saturday night but there's just no beating the Kiwis on their home turf. Not that anyone needs reminding but Australian teams have now played 21 Super Rugby finals in the Land of the Long White Cloud and come off second best every time, with the Brumbies losing four successive semis on the other side of the ditch. 'Another stumble at the second-last hurdle, but the Chiefs had a really strict game plan and they put it to the sword, so fair play to them,' said Tom Wright. The Brumbies fullback was denied a late try by a brilliant smothering tackle by Damian McKenzie that summed up the visitors' luckless night after they lost influential playmaker Noah Lolesio early on when he copped a heavy knock and failed his HIA. The teams scored three tries apiece but the Chiefs emerged victorious courtesy of McKenzie's boot as he landed six penalties and two conversions for a personal haul of 22 points. Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa said there was no questioning his team's desire, but discipline let them down. 'What we spoke about all week is that we had to play close to a perfect game to come out here and get the result,' he said. 'In the second half, our accuracy let us down and off the back of that probably our discipline as well… then they capitalised on that.' Brumbies hooker Billy Pollard scored the opening points with a trademark try off a rolling maul after the Chief's lock Tupou Vaa'i was sent to the bin for an early high shot on him. The Brumbies winger Corey Toole also crossed twice but the Chiefs kept chipping away on the scoreboard to remain in front for most of the contest and take the spoils. Wright said the Brumbies always knew what they were up against when they landed in New Zealand but tried not to let it play on their minds. 'I don't think we needed to talk about creating history, that drive was always there for us,' he said. 'Externally though, the noise is near impossible to drown out, but as a group we didn't talk about that as such. 'Knowing that noise is there, didn't change anything. If you don't have enough motivation before this evening, you're probably playing in the wrong game, right?' The Chiefs will travel to Christchurch next week to play the Crusaders in the grand final while the Brumbies will fly home wondering what could have been as attention turns to the Wallabies upcoming series against the British and Irish Lions. The Brumbies will be well represented when Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt names his squad next week for the warm-up test against Fiji on July 6, with Wright and Alaalatoa considered certainties to get the call up after a Super Rugby season that was high on quality even if ended the same way as most other recent editions. 'I think it's been a great step forward in terms of the whole competition,' Alaalatoa said.
France 24
11-06-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Larkham says Brumbies peaking at right time ahead of Super Rugby semi
The Canberra-based side travel to Hamilton for the bumper clash on Saturday with an unchanged squad for the first time this season, spearheaded by a slew of Wallabies including Allan Alaalatoa and James Slipper. But they are battling the odds, having exited in the semi-finals to New Zealand clubs in the last three years, while the Chiefs are unbeaten against them in four games. Larkham said he was optimistic they can make the final, which will be in Canberra if they beat the Chiefs and the Auckland Blues topple the Canterbury Crusaders in the other last-four clash. "The boys are peaking at the right time. I thought they played really well on the weekend," he said, referring to their 35-28 takedown of the in-form Wellington Hurricanes in their elimination final. "The selection is based on performance, but we also certainly want continuity going into the finals. And it's nice to have at this stage of the season. "We'll make sure that we keep our emotions in check this week. The boys can get a lot of confidence out of the way that we're playing. "There's a lot of stats that show that we're playing very good footy and we've also shown consistency throughout the season." The Chiefs have been the standout club all season and are looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time this year after a 20-19 defeat to the defending champion Blues last weekend. Larkham said the Brumbies would not be "copying" the Blues' playbook, with his team "in a pretty good space in terms of our routine". "We've got a plan this week in terms of some of the stuff that we've been building on through the year, and then some specific stuff for the Chiefs," he said. "There's a few challenges. The Chiefs are different to the Hurricanes.
West Australian
08-06-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Set pieces key to Brumbies snapping Super finals hoodoo
Three minutes to go before halftime, with scores level, in a do-or-die elimination final, Allan Alaalatoa took a gamble that a few years ago would've stunned rugby union devotees. The ACT Brumbies had just won a penalty directly in front of the posts against the Hurricanes in their quarter-final clash at GIO Stadium on Saturday night. But, presented with the opportunity to take a certain three points, the Brumbies captain decided to instead give his forward pack a crack at icing a riskier seven-pointer from a lineout. "The last time we played, we got minimal opportunities down in our end-zone," Alaalatoa explained after the match. "And I thought in finals footy, you might only get a handful, so I wanted to make every opportunity count. So that's where my head was at." And it paid dividends. After the Brumbies won a penalty from their initial lineout and rolled the dice once again, hooker Billy Pollard peeled off the blindside of a rolling maul and dived over the tryline. But it's not so much a gamble as a calculated risk. The Brumbies have scored more than 70 per cent of their tries this season from mauls or pick-and-drive sequences off the back of lineouts, converting about 40 per cent of their entries into the opposition 22 into tries. That compares with about an 85 per cent chance of flyhalf Noah Lolesio nailing a three-pointer with his boot. Rule changes have made it harder for defending teams to prevent the tactic, with Super Rugby Pacific teams increasingly eschewing penalty shots at goal in favour of kicking for lineouts in the attacking 22 in recent years. Captains also enjoy the added bonus of maintaining possession and field position, ramping up pressure on the opposition. "There's lots of confidence in our maul, and then our pick-and-drive as well," Alaalatoa said. "So it was more the fact that, yeah, we just wanted to take that opportunity and then keep them down their end as well." Out of the five tries the Brumbies scored against the fourth-placed Hurricanes in their 35-28 win, four came from front-rowers off the back of mauls or pick-and-drives. "I thought our forwards were outstanding in the first half there, both with some of the pick-and-go stuff and the maul," said Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham. "A couple of maul tries tonight, which saps a lot of energy out of the forwards. They backed it up with some pick-and-go and then in the second half we opened the Hurricanes up in different ways. "We're not experts in winning finals or anything like that, but we certainly feel that having a good set piece is going to go a long way to win those finals games." The Brumbies' execution will need to be on point if they are to book a grand final ticket by beating the table-topping Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday. No Australian side has ever won a knock-out game in New Zealand the almost 30-year history of Super Rugby and the Brumbies' last three seasons have ended in semi-final defeats across the ditch. The Chiefs still see the value in taking penalty goals and every Brumbies indiscretion will be punished by the marksman boot of competition leading point-scorer Damian McKenzie. McKenzie buried four three-pointers in his side's 20-19 loss the Blues on Saturday, with the Chiefs having scored 25 penalty goals this season to the Brumbies' 10.
Perth Now
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Set pieces key to Brumbies snapping Super finals hoodoo
Three minutes to go before halftime, with scores level, in a do-or-die elimination final, Allan Alaalatoa took a gamble that a few years ago would've stunned rugby union devotees. The ACT Brumbies had just won a penalty directly in front of the posts against the Hurricanes in their quarter-final clash at GIO Stadium on Saturday night. But, presented with the opportunity to take a certain three points, the Brumbies captain decided to instead give his forward pack a crack at icing a riskier seven-pointer from a lineout. "The last time we played, we got minimal opportunities down in our end-zone," Alaalatoa explained after the match. "And I thought in finals footy, you might only get a handful, so I wanted to make every opportunity count. So that's where my head was at." And it paid dividends. After the Brumbies won a penalty from their initial lineout and rolled the dice once again, hooker Billy Pollard peeled off the blindside of a rolling maul and dived over the tryline. But it's not so much a gamble as a calculated risk. The Brumbies have scored more than 70 per cent of their tries this season from mauls or pick-and-drive sequences off the back of lineouts, converting about 40 per cent of their entries into the opposition 22 into tries. That compares with about an 85 per cent chance of flyhalf Noah Lolesio nailing a three-pointer with his boot. Rule changes have made it harder for defending teams to prevent the tactic, with Super Rugby Pacific teams increasingly eschewing penalty shots at goal in favour of kicking for lineouts in the attacking 22 in recent years. Captains also enjoy the added bonus of maintaining possession and field position, ramping up pressure on the opposition. "There's lots of confidence in our maul, and then our pick-and-drive as well," Alaalatoa said. "So it was more the fact that, yeah, we just wanted to take that opportunity and then keep them down their end as well." Out of the five tries the Brumbies scored against the fourth-placed Hurricanes in their 35-28 win, four came from front-rowers off the back of mauls or pick-and-drives. "I thought our forwards were outstanding in the first half there, both with some of the pick-and-go stuff and the maul," said Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham. "A couple of maul tries tonight, which saps a lot of energy out of the forwards. They backed it up with some pick-and-go and then in the second half we opened the Hurricanes up in different ways. "We're not experts in winning finals or anything like that, but we certainly feel that having a good set piece is going to go a long way to win those finals games." The Brumbies' execution will need to be on point if they are to book a grand final ticket by beating the table-topping Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday. No Australian side has ever won a knock-out game in New Zealand the almost 30-year history of Super Rugby and the Brumbies' last three seasons have ended in semi-final defeats across the ditch. The Chiefs still see the value in taking penalty goals and every Brumbies indiscretion will be punished by the marksman boot of competition leading point-scorer Damian McKenzie. McKenzie buried four three-pointers in his side's 20-19 loss the Blues on Saturday, with the Chiefs having scored 25 penalty goals this season to the Brumbies' 10.
eNCA
08-06-2025
- Sport
- eNCA
Brumbies join New Zealand heavyweights in Super Rugby semis
CANBERRA - A gutsy ACT Brumbies ensured Australia's presence in the Super Rugby semi-finals with a 35-28 takedown of the in-form Wellington Hurricanes, joining New Zealand heavyweights Auckland Blues, Waikato Chiefs and Canterbury Crusaders. The 'Canes arrived in frigid Canberra unbeaten in six games, but after a fast start they were bossed by the Brumbies' front-rowers who bagged four of their five tries. Their reward is a semi-final next week in Hamilton against the Chiefs, who suffered a last-gasp 20-19 defeat to the defending champion Blues. Despite losing, the Chiefs still advanced to the semis, and kept home advantage, as the highest-seeded loser under a revamped play-off system. The Blues travel to Christchurch to face the Crusaders, who opened the elimination round with a 32-12 win over the Queensland Reds on Friday. "It felt good to earn ourselves another week," said Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa, who crossed for a try. "We knew it was probably going to take everything we had. I thought it was a much-improved effort from last time we played them." A fifth-minute try from fullback Ruben Love after a free-flowing move set the 'Canes on their way, but the Brumbies quickly struck back when hooker Billy Pollard finished off a patient trademark rolling maul. They exchanged converted tries again before Pollard put the home side in front for the first time on the cusp of half-time, again crashing over after a rolling maul for a 21-14 advantage. The hosts extended their lead six minutes after the break when Tom Wright combined with Wallabies teammate Rob Valetini to slice open the defence. A determined Hurricanes kept bouncing back, but a further converted Brumbies try from veteran prop James Slipper ultimately sealed the win.
