Ryan Lonergan produced a captain’s performance and debutant Chris Mickelson capped a dream first appearance with a try as the Brumbies snapped their three-match losing streak with a commanding 32–15 victory over the Western Force at GIO Stadium, leapfrogging the Queensland Reds into fifth on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder.
Key moments
2 mins – TRY BRUMBIES: Darcy Swain spills the kick-off on his 100th Super Rugby appearance and the Brumbies pounce. Rob Valetini and Nick Frost hammer away at the line through repeated carries before Lachlan Shaw picks and goes at pace, muscling through two defenders to dot down beside the posts. Ryan Lonergan converts. (Brumbies 7–0 Force)
14 mins – INJURY: Force halfback Henry Robertson departs with a suspected leg injury. Nathan Hastie replaces him.
17 mins – TRY FORCE: The Force respond after sustained pressure near the Brumbies’ line. Carlo Tizzano’s run drives them inside the 22, and after multiple gain-line carries from the forwards, Darcy Swain and Brandon Paenga-Amosa hammer away before Harry Johnson-Holmes wins the collision and plants the ball down on the line. Ben Donaldson converts. (Brumbies 7–7 Force)
27 mins – LINEOUT STEAL: The Force earn a penalty inside the Brumbies’ 22 and Donaldson kicks to the corner, but Nick Frost pinches the lineout throw at the back in a massive play on his own line.
30 mins – PENALTY FORCE: Ben Donaldson slots from 24 metres after James Slipper is penalised for not rolling at the ruck. The Force take the lead. (Brumbies 7–10 Force)
31 mins – TRY BRUMBIES: The Brumbies strike back immediately. The lineout is secured by Frost and Corey Toole explodes through the middle, slipping past multiple defenders. Ryan Lonergan shifts it quickly left, with David Feliuai firing the ball to an unmarked Ollie Sapsford on the wing, who dives over in the corner. Lonergan converts from the sideline. (Brumbies 14–10 Force)
40+1 mins – CRUCIAL TURNOVER: With the Force threatening on the Brumbies’ line as the siren sounds, captain Ryan Lonergan pulls off a big steal on Carlo Tizzano to win a penalty and preserve the lead.
Half-time: Brumbies 14–10 Force. A physical, scrappy arm wrestle on a freezing Canberra night. The Brumbies started brilliantly and finished the half strongly after the Force had edged ahead through Donaldson’s boot, but Sapsford’s try and Lonergan’s last-gasp turnover ensure the hosts lead at the break.
49 mins – PENALTY BRUMBIES: Ryan Lonergan slots from 45 metres directly in front after Slipper wins a turnover penalty. (Brumbies 17–10 Force)
53 mins – TRY BRUMBIES: The Lonergan brothers combine brilliantly. The maul is sacked instantly five metres out, so Lachlan Lonergan peels off down the short side, draws the final defender and gets the ball onto his brother Ryan, who crashes over in the right corner. Lonergan cannot convert from the sideline. (Brumbies 22–10 Force)
61 mins – TRY FORCE: The Force refuse to go quietly. Donaldson finds touch in the right corner, the lineout drive rumbles forward before splintering, and Carlo Tizzano peels away at the perfect time to stroll over and score in the corner. Donaldson cannot convert from wide. (Brumbies 22–15 Force)
72 mins – FORMAL WARNING: Referee Nic Berry issues the Force a formal warning for repeated infringements. Jeremy Williams is penalised for deliberately slowing the ball.
72 mins – PENALTY BRUMBIES: Ryan Lonergan slots from in front to extend the lead to 10. (Brumbies 25–15 Force)
75 mins – TRY BRUMBIES: Debutant Chris Mickelson seals it. Valetini storms into contact and bends the line, Ryan Lonergan has a snipe and goes close, before Mickelson picks and goes powerfully, pumping his legs to plant it down beside the posts on debut. The crowd erupts as the local product celebrates with his club’s iconic owl hand signal toward friends and family. Lonergan converts. (Brumbies 32–15 Force)
Full-time: Brumbies 32–15 Force
Match report
On a freezing Canberra night with steam rising from the scrums, the Brumbies delivered exactly the performance their season demanded. Having lost six of their past eight matches and staring at the prospect of missing the playoffs for a second consecutive year, Stephen Larkham’s side found the composure, physicality and clinical edge that had deserted them in recent weeks to claim a victory that breathes life back into their finals push.
At the heart of it all was their captain. Lonergan registered 69 passes across the 80 minutes, nailed two crucial penalty goals from range, scored a try off a slick combination with his brother, and produced a match-defining turnover on his own line as the half-time siren sounded. It was a performance that further bolstered his Wallabies credentials and drew high praise from his coach.
“Last year was the breakthrough season for him, but I genuinely feel he’s playing better this year than he did last year,” Larkham said. “Ryan’s composure in and around the leadership and how he speaks to the boys is just putting everyone in a really good position to perform.”
The Brumbies could hardly have asked for a better start. Swain, leading the Force out for his 100th Super Rugby cap, spilled the opening kick-off cold, and the home side needed just 90 seconds to capitalise. Valetini and Frost hammered away at the line through repeated carries before Shaw picked and drove powerfully over beside the posts for his second opening try in consecutive weeks. Lonergan converted for an early 7–0 lead.
What followed was a brutal arm wrestle befitting the conditions and the stakes. The Force steadied through their forward pack, with Jeremy Williams working tirelessly in the tight exchanges and Dylan Pietsch — celebrating his 50th cap — pressing hard out wide. Johnson-Holmes burrowed over after sustained close-range pressure in the 17th minute, and Donaldson’s conversion levelled the scores. The Force would lose halfback Robertson to a worrying leg injury shortly after, but his replacement Hastie settled quickly.
The visitors edged ahead through a Donaldson penalty in the 30th minute after Slipper was caught not rolling, but the lead lasted barely a minute. Toole provided the spark that had been missing from the Brumbies’ attack in recent weeks, exploding through the middle off a lineout play with his trademark electric footwork and line-breaking speed. Lonergan shifted the ball quickly left, Feliuai found the space, and Sapsford — promoted to the starting wing and showing why he deserves more minutes — dived over in the corner. Sapsford finished with 44 metres gained and looked sharp throughout.
The first half had one final twist. With the siren sounding and the Force threatening on the Brumbies’ line, Lonergan produced a crucial steal on Tizzano at the breakdown to win the penalty and preserve the four-point advantage. It was the kind of play that encapsulated his evening — calm, composed, and decisive when it mattered most.
The second half belonged almost entirely to the Brumbies. Lonergan drilled a huge penalty from near 50 metres in the 49th minute before the brothers combined for the try that effectively broke the contest open. Lachlan peeled off the back of a sacked maul down the short side, drew the last defender, and fed Ryan, who crashed over in the corner. “I was laughing because jeez, I made it hard,” Ryan told Stan Sport. “He threw me a pie and I nearly spilled it.”
The Force kept fighting through Tizzano, whose specialty — peeling off splintering mauls — produced a try in the 61st minute that cut the deficit to seven. Donaldson’s conversion missed, and the visitors could not sustain the pressure. Penalties, errors and poor field position repeatedly invited the Brumbies back into attacking territory, and the hosts gladly accepted. Pietsch thought he had raced away for a try that would have brought the Force within striking distance, only to be denied by a tough obstruction call.
Berry issued the Force a formal warning for repeated infringements in the 72nd minute, and Lonergan extended the lead to 10 with his second penalty. The stage was then set for the night’s most popular moment.
Mickelson, last year’s John I Dent Cup player of the year, had entered the field just three minutes earlier to a roar from friends, family and supporters. The local product, who won the award as a hooker but was covering back-row for the Brumbies, needed no time to make his mark. After Valetini had softened the defensive line with a trademark surging carry and Lonergan had gone close with a snipe, Mickelson picked and drove powerfully beside the posts to seal the bonus point on debut. He celebrated by throwing the owl hand signal of his local club towards his people in the stands, and the stadium erupted as teammates swarmed the newest Brumby.
Force captain Williams was gracious in defeat. “Really physical game,” he told Stan Sport. “We knew they’d come out raring to go. At times we matched them. I do think they won the collisions. Our discipline let them into their attacking zone.”
The result lifts the Brumbies to 29 competition points and a 6–6 record, leapfrogging the Reds into fifth with just two matches remaining. The Force slip to 4–7 and sit nine points outside the top six — their finals hopes now on life support with three home matches to come. Coach Simon Cron remains defiant. “We’ve got three games at home,” he said. “We’ve got a job to do, so we’ve got to recoup, fix and get into it again.”
Match details
Brumbies 32 (Tries: Lachlan Shaw, Ollie Sapsford, Ryan Lonergan, Chris Mickelson; Conversions: Ryan Lonergan 3/4; Penalties: Lonergan 2/2)
Force 15 (Tries: Harry Johnson-Holmes, Carlo Tizzano; Conversions: Ben Donaldson 1/2; Penalties: Donaldson 1/1)
Half-time: 14–10
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Reuben Keane, Louis Trisley
TMO: Brett Cronan
Teams
Brumbies: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Ollie Sapsford, 13 Hudson Creighton, 12 David Feliuai, 11 Corey Toole, 10 Declan Meredith, 9 Ryan Lonergan (c), 8 Toby Macpherson, 7 Rory Scott, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lachlan Shaw, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Lachlan Lonergan, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Blake Schoupp, 18 Rhys van Nek, 19 Cadeyrn Neville, 20 Chris Mickelson, 21 Klayton Thorn, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Andy Muirhead.
Force: 15 Mac Grealy, 14 Zac Lomax, 13 George Bridge, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Henry Robertson, 8 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Jeremy Williams (c), 5 Darcy Swain, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Tom Robertson.
Replacements: 16 Nic Dolly, 17 Marley Pearce, 18 Sef Fa’agase, 19 Lopeti Faifua, 20 Will Harris, 21 Nathan Hastie, 22 Bayley Kuenzle, 23 Kurtley Beale.
What’s next
The Brumbies have the bye in Round 14 before hosting the Highlanders. The Force return to Perth to host the Reds.
