Hurricanes - 25 Brumbies - 42
FULLTIME - Check out a full wrap and highlights here
78 mins - TRY BRUMBIES to Hudson Creighton
Creighton ignores his overlap outside and pin shis ears back. Rolls over the line in the tackle. Video review shows he appeared to lose the ball on his way to the chalk but the TMO says there was no separation. Hmmm. That will be game over. (Brumbies 42-25)
77 mins - Canes defend valiantly. Rayasi leaps for an intercept on his own line, tips the ball and is collected by a hit which may have prevented him regathering the ball. TMO reviews. Nope, it goes the other way. Rayasi ruled to have made a cynical play on the pass. Bizarre call. Canes down to 14 for the final three minutes.
75 mins - Brumbies move the ball but don't make much progress, penalty advantage cashed in for an infringement at the lineout. Brumbies move to a lineout at the Canes' 22m.
74 mins - Blindside play for Barrett who's pulverised in a tackle and the Brumbies pounce to win a defensive penalty.
73 mins - Almost an intercept for the Brumbies but the ball is spilled. Knock-on both ways, scrum Canes at the Brumbies' 22m. What can they conjure here?
71 mins - Barrett with space, links with Rayasi. The wing drops the ball to his boot but he's given it too many herbs and it rolls dead in-goal. Brumbies choose to take the 22m dropout.
69 mins - Brumbies with ball in hand, unable to gain much ground in the face of some staunch Canes defence. Knock-on forced, Canes scrum at their own 10m.
66 mins - TRY HURRICANES to Billy Proctor
The electric Rayasi steps to the fore, carving the left edge of the Brumbies' defensive line before finding Proctor with a perfectly timed pass to set off the final 20m into the corner. Barrett can't convert. (Brumbies 35-25)
65 mins - Slick set play sets Savea down the right edge but he's barreled into touch. This may have been a shoulder charge and the TMO review confirms as much. But the Brumbies quickly throw the lineout. Play on, I guess?
63 mins - Scrum Brumbies at the Canes' 10m. Free kick goes the Canes' way and the loosehead is reversed for the reset scrum.
60 mins - Strong carry by J.Savea down the left flank to move inside the Brumbies' 22m but the hosts win a defensive penalty. That's a killer. Canes must score next here.
58 mins - TRY BRUMBIES to Tom Banks
Another one! The Canes defence unable to scramble wide from the attacking lineout and it's a simple draw and pass to put the fullback over. Lolesio converts (Brumbies 35-20)
57 mins - Garden-Bachop sends the goal-line dropout out on the full. This will be a 5m lineout, dangerous times for the Canes.
52nd min - TRY BRUMBIES to Jahrome Brown
Lovely setpiece play from the scrum puts Irae Simone through a big hole, linking with Tom Wright, who finds Brown on his shoulder to complete the movement. Lolesio converts (Brumbies 28-20)
51st min - Barrett spills a high one in the face of the sun strike. Brumbies scrum at the Canes' 10m.
47 mins - TRY BRUMBIES to Lachlan Lonergan
The hooker puts the finishing touches on a clinical 5m lineout drive and the lead is back with the Brumbies. Lolesio can't convert. (Brumbies 21-20)
46 mins - Brumbies swing back on the offensive, turning down a shot at goal to opt for a 5m lieout.
43rd min - TRY HURRICANES to Salesi Rayasi
The big wing collects a pass on the bounce off the top of the lineout and bursts through some weak defence to go in under the black dot. (Hurricanes 20-16)
42nd min - Brumbies pinged for side entry at a ruck. Canes set a lineout at the Brumbies' 22m.
41st min - Barrett restarts and the Brumbies clear back to the 10m, Barrett soars to reel in a superb catch. Canes work to the 22m.
Second half underway...
HALFTIME
38 mins - Brumbies feed a scrum near halfway. Huge shunt from the Canes and they win the defensive scrum penalty as the halftime siren sounds.
Barrett will have a shot at the sticks, 44m out directly in front. Strikes it well to send us to the sheds. (Brumbies 16-13)
33 mins - TRY BRUMBIES to Rob Valetini
Valetini kicks ahead from a turnover, pins his ears back and outpaces two Canes defenders 50m to win the race to touch the ball in the in-goal. Brilliant work from the big flanker. Lolesio converts. (Brumbies 16-10)
32 mins - Brumbies feed a scrum right in front of their posts. Clear from a free kick back to their own 10m, then steal the Canes' lineout feed.
26 mins -TRY HURRICANES to Peter Umaga-Jensen
Umaga-Jensen scoops a bobbling ball and does well to power his way under the crossbar from 2m out. He firmly believes he's scored. TMO checks and agrees. (Hurricanes 10-9)
26 mins - Attacking scrum Canes. Brumbies hand plays at the ball as Perenara looks to pass from a close range ruck. Ball bobbled into the in-goal, where Ardie Savea dotted it down. Referee shows guilty party Jahrome Brown a yellow card. Canes tap and go from 5m out.
22 mins - Penalty for the Canes. Barrett will have a crack from literally the centre of the park, well within his range. Plenty of legs but the shot is off to the left.
20 mins - Finally some more field position for the Hurricanes, until Tom Wright pounces on a ruck to win a penalty and allow the Brumbies to clear.
16 mins - Brumbies attacking under advantage, 10m out. Pass intercepted and we're back for the penalty. TMO having a look at a potential late shoulder charge on halfback Nic White by Justin Sangster. Yellow card for the Canes lock and the visitors are down to 14 men.
Lolesio calls for the tee again, sends it over from virtually in front. (Brumbies 9-3)
14 mins - Scrum penalty for the Brumbies. Lineout at the Canes' 22m.
11 mins - Barrett breaks down the left, loose pass falls for the Brumbies to counter until their own mistake kills it off. Scrum Canes at their 10m.
9 mins - Restart out on the full, scrum in the middle of the paddock for the Brumbies. Ikitau sets sail, bumping off Umaga-Jense on his way to the Canes' 22m. Penalty Brumbies at very handy range, Lolesio bangs it over (Brumbies 6-3).
6 mins - Canes can't reel in the bomb and the Brumbies pounce and move to within metres of the line. Offside penalty blown up. May have saved a try there. Lolesio will grab the easy three. (3-3)
3 mins - Canes recycle well, 11 phases deep inside the 22m. Forward pass cashes in the penalty advantage. Gift three points on offer here, which Barrett will accept. (Hurricanes 3-0)
1st min - Nic White gets us started, Julian Savea carries to the 22m. Excellent clearance Garden-Bachop for a lineout near halfway.
Canes steal it at the lineout, ball down to the Brumbies' 10m.
We're underway...
3:57pm - Sunny, calm and warm conditions in Canberra this afternoon. This should be a tight one.
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Kia ora and welcome to our live coverage of the Super Rugby Pacific showdown between the Hurricanes and the Brumbies in the Australian capital.
The NZ side is riding a three-game win streak, most recently getting the better of the Reds at Melbourne last weekend.
They'll need to be at their peak to get past the Brumbies, who currently sit second on the standings with just a solitary loss to their name, becoming the first Aussie team to beat one of their NZ counterparts last weekend with a win over the Highlanders.
We'll have all of the action from kick-off at 4pm (NZ time).
TAB betting odds:
Hurricanes - $1.77 Brumbies - $1.97
Hurricanes: 1-Pouri Rakete-Stones, 2-James O'Reilly, 3-Tyrel Lomax, 4-James Blackwell, 5-Justin Sangster, 6-TK Howden, 7-Blake Gibson, 8-Ardie Savea (c), 9-TJ Perenara, 10-Jackson Garden-Bachop, 11-Salesi Rayasi, 12-Peter Umaga-Jensen, 13-Bailyn Sullivan, 14-Julian Savea, 15-Jordie Barrett
Reserves: 16-Kianu Kereru-Symes, 17-Xavier Numia, 18-Tevita Mafileo, 19-Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20-Caleb Delany, 21-Jamie Booth, 22-Aidan Morgan, 23-Billy Proctor
Chiefs rely on 'best scrum in competition' for hard-fought victory over Reds
By Grant Chapman
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan has praised his dominant scrum - and the match officials allowing it to dominate - after their nervous 27-25 victory over Reds at Brisbane.
The set-piece became a focal point of contention, after Chiefs halfback Cortez Ratima scored off a wheeling scrum on halftime, after they repeatedly disintegrated the Queensland pack for scrum penalties.
During this sequence, the Reds also lost the services of powerful prop Taniela Tupou, as they complained the Waikato side were deliberately turning the scrum - but McMillan is adamant his pack doesn't need to cheat.
"We feel like we've got the best scrum in the competition, and we're happy to go there and challenge teams," he said. "I think the referees got it right.
"I know the man in the middle with the whistle will probably get a lot of flack for raising his arm, but if you do a little digging, you'll see it was the blokes on the sideline with the best view in the house calling those penalties.
"There's no need to wheel or play silly buggers when you've got confidence in your scrum. You just scrum square over the ball and be prepared to scrum for as long as the referee will allow you to scrum.
"That was part of our plan against the Reds. They have a good scrum themselves, but we wanted to see whether they were prepared to scrum for longer and as it turns out, sometimes they weren't."
When cross-examined on whether his scrum ever wheeled, McMillan doubled down on the brazen assessment of his forwards.
"We feel like we've got, not just the best scrum, but the two best scrums in the competition. Some of our work in training is harder than we're getting sometimes in games.
"That's not to say there aren't some bloody good scrums out there, but we just don't feel like we have to play silly buggers to get rewarded at scrum-time."
The result catapults the Chiefs back into Super Rugby Pacific playoff contention, leapfrogging the Reds into fourth on the table, behind the Blues, Brumbies and Crusaders, with all three still to play this weekend.
