ACT Brumbies ended a 26-year hoodoo in emphatic fashion as veteran prop James Slipper marked his 200th Super Rugby appearance with a rare try in a stunning 50–24 win over the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.
Having crossed just once across the past two Super Rugby seasons, Slipper was an unlikely scorer when he latched onto an offload from Andy Muirhead in the 29th minute. It was his 10th try in the competition since debuting with the Queensland Reds back in 2010.
The five-pointer capped a milestone night for the former Wallaby, who became only the second player in Super Rugby history to reach the 200-game mark. Slipper now sits just two appearances behind former All Black Wyatt Crockett (202) for the most matches played in the competition.
More importantly for the Canberrans, the result marked their first victory over the Crusaders in Christchurch since 2000. It continues a trend of broken droughts for the Brumbies, who last season snapped a 12-year winless run in New Zealand against the Auckland Blues at Eden Park.
With injured speedster Tom Wright sidelined by a knee issue, Muirhead stepped up superbly, setting up Slipper’s try and scoring one himself in the 20th minute. After a tight opening half, the Brumbies edged ahead 19–14 at the break thanks to tries from Muirhead, Slipper and rising star Charlie Cale.
The visitors blew the game open after the interval, piling on five second-half tries and completely overwhelming their hosts. Cale added his second following a blistering run down the left, before Kadin Pritchard finished smartly in the 54th minute after a fortunate bounce from a kick by Declan Meredith.
The Crusaders, whose title defence had already been rocked by a shock loss to the Highlanders the previous round, struggled badly at the breakdown. Despite welcoming back All Blacks props Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell, along with star fullback Will Jordan, they conceded a costly 14 turnovers.
First-half tries from captain David Havili and hooker George Bell, the latter finished after a clever chip from Taha Kemara, briefly kept the hosts in touch.
Second-half efforts from Sevu Reece and Leicester Fainga’anuku narrowed the margin, but the Brumbies finished with a flourish. Late tries from Corey Toole, Liam Bowron and skipper Rob Valetini sealed one of the most memorable away wins in the club’s history.
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