Brumbies win over Bulls puts them on top, but Rebels fall short against Sharks

The Brumbies have kept their hopes of a Super Rugby finals berth alive after beating the Bulls 22-16 at GIO Stadium on Friday night.

But they face an anxious wait to learn the fate of Wallabies lock Sam Carter, who went off injured in the first half with what appeared to be a serious knee strain.

The loss of Carter could prove decisive for the Brumbies in their final two regular season matches against Western Force in Perth on Friday and the Crusaders at home the following week.

But they did not let his early exit hamper their efforts against an equally-desperate Bulls outfit in Canberra, with winger Henry Speight scoring two tries to seal their second win in a row.

The victory has temporarily put them back on top of the Australian conference by one point ahead of the NSW Waratahs, who play the Lions in Johannesburg early on Saturday.

The three points did not come easy for the Brumbies, who were stretched to the limit by the Bulls.

Both sides were fighting for their seasons, having recently surrendered the lead in their respective conferences, and were ready to put up a fight.

Christian Lealiifano missed two early chances to open the Brumbies’ account with a wayward pair of penalty goal attempts inside the opening 10 minutes.

His opposite number had no such issues, Hendre Pollard easily slotting a long three-pointer to take the lead after 17 minutes.

He got another moments later to go 6-0 up, as the Bulls heaped the pressure on at the breakdown.

The Brumbies could not break through the visitor’s solid defence and efforts to test their lineout proved fruitless early on.

The situation only got worse when they lost Carter following an accidental but sickening knock to the knee by Bjorn Basson in the 23rd minute.

Heavily strapped and with the help of medics, the lock limped off and did not return.

But that only fired up the Brumbies, with a penalty and try to Carter’s replacement Jordan Smiler – his first in Super Rugby – giving them an 8-6 buffer going into the break.

The Bulls regained the lead after an early second-half penalty goal, but a flying Henry Speight ensured that was only short-lived with two tries back-to-back – both converted by Lealiifano.

They could do nothing but watch, though, as the Bulls scored from a rolling maul moments later to reduce the 22-9 deficit to 22-16.

Despite a few late efforts from the South Africans, the Brumbies managed to hold on for the win.

Meanwhile, a two-try haul from skipper Scott Higginbotham wasn’t enough for the Melbourne Rebels to achieve a break-through win in South Africa, falling 25-21 to the Sharks in Durban.

The captain did his best to try to help his side to a first victory in the republic but the Rebels were hamstrung by the dismissal of prop Laurie Weeks, leaving them to play over 50 minutes down a man.

Melbourne trailed 3-0 after an early penalty strike by five-eighth Lionel Cronje before Weeks got involved in a scuffle with Jannie du Plessis.

The Sharks prop struck Weeks across the back of the head as the pair jogged towards the play, but the Rebel retaliated with four punches, resulting in his red card while du Plessis was yellow-carded.

Five minutes later the home side was in when winger Sibusiso Sithole ran on to a ball at the back of the scrum and burrowed across the line with the assistance of his forwards.

It looked like the Rebels would not cross the stripe in the first half when five-eighth Jack Debreczeni was held up, but Higginbotham got his first in the final minute as they sent the ball wide and he shrugged off the tackle of Cronje.

With Debreczeni adding the extras the margin was 10-7 at the break, with the error count from both sides in double figures.

The Sharks struck a double blow early in the second half when fullback Lwazi Mvovo raced 70m after an intercept and then eight minutes later Heimar William cut back inside through a gap to open up a 22-7 lead.

The Rebels kept fighting with Higginbotham, who holds the Super Rugby record for the most tries scored by a forward, leading the charge.

He carried two defenders over the line and then replacement back Bryce Hegarty scored with five minutes left to give the visitors a real sniff.

But they were unable to get the necessary fourth try and leave South Africa with just a bonus point from two games.