History beckons after Brumbies book Super Rugby semi

Jacob Shteyman | June 7, 2025

The ACT Brumbies have booked a Super Rugby Pacific semi-final berth with a gutsy 35-28 playoffs win over the Hurricanes at GIO Stadium.

The home side’s forward pack were prolific, with hooker Billy Pollard scoring a double, in the Brumbies’ five-tries-to-four victory over the Wellingtonians on Saturday night.

The Brumbies will now need to make history by beating the ladder-topping Chiefs in Hamilton next weekend to avoid a fourth straight semi-final exit against a New Zealand club.

No Australian side has won a knock-out game in New Zealand in the almost 30-year history of the competition.

“The process this year has been about going one better than last year, so there’s a big challenge in front of us against the Chiefs in Hamilton,” said Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham. 

“We’ve been in this situation multiple times.

“Very happy that we’ve won the game, but we know that there’s a lot of work to do.”

The Brumbies were lethal when given a sniff in the opposing 22, but Larkham said it would be a completely different story with the Chiefs next week.

“I thought our scrum was outstanding. Our lineout let us down a little bit and put us under the pump a little bit with turnover ball,” he said. 

“But obviously those two opportunities there from the maul put 14 points on the board for us.”

The tried-and-tested methods of rolling mauls and pick-and-drives from lineouts, which the Brumbies had relied on all season, paid dividends.

After the Hurricanes opened the scoring through fullback Ruben Love, a Brumbies maul from a lineout in opposition territory slowly but surely rolled over the tryline, with Pollard the man to dot down through a sea of bodies.

Fatafehi Fineanganofo hit back for the visitors before Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa burrowed over after a succession of pick-and-drives on the Hurricanes’ line.

With three minutes left in the first half, the Brumbies opted not to take a penalty goal from right in front, instead chancing their arms again with another lineout.

Their gamble paid off with Pollard managing to break off the blindside of another maul and dive onto the tryline to give the Brumbies a seven-point lead at the break.

The sides traded seven-pointers in the second half, with a try to Brumbies fullback Tom Wright after fast handiwork from Rob Valetini cancelled out by one from Bailyn Sullivan.

Veteran Brumbies prop James Slipper scored with another pick-and-drive before Hurricanes substitute Pasilio Tosi narrowed the gap to one try to ramp up the tension in the dying minutes. 

The Hurricanes burst into the Brumbies half through a Callum Harkin linebreak in the final minute but Luke Reimer stepped up for the home side to steal back possession and settle the victory.

The defending champion Blues’ last-gasp win over the Chiefs earlier in the night heaped the pressure on the third-placed Brumbies, who knew a loss would consign them to bowing out before the semi-finals for the first time since 2018.

Instead it was the fourth-placed Hurricanes who reached the end of the road in their season.

Coach Clark Laidlaw has been dealt a tough hand this season, with a rash of injuries ruling out key players for extended periods. 

But it’s meant the Scotsman has been able to develop the squad’s depth, having had to field 40-odd players over the course of the competition.

“We’ve just got to suck it up, I guess, and take our disappointment and lick our wounds and move into the off-season,” he said.

If the Brumbies win in Hamilton next weekend and the Blues upset the Crusaders in Christchurch, the Canberrans will host a home grand final for the first time since 2004 (excluding Super Rugby AU).