Yellow card hurts Force as Brumbies seal come from behind win to get season back on track

They did it the hard way, but the Brumbies have come from behind to beat the Western Force in Canberra 22-19 on Saturday afternoon.

After yet another sleepy start, the Brumbies trailed 14-0 after 20 minutes but managed to get to the half-time sheds trailing by just four points.

The game, however, turned right from the outset of the second half as winger Harry Potter made contact with Darcy Swain in the air and was shown a yellow card.

Initially, the Brumbies made a meal of the numerical advantage, as their lineout struggled, but two tries in seven minutes to forwards Rob Valetini and Billy Pollard swung the game to the home side.

The Brumbies had the chance to put some gloss on the scoreboard, but another overthrown lineout hurt them.

With time running out, the Force finally returned to what worked in the opening half as Wallabies incumbent playmaker Ben Donaldson took the ball to the line and slipped a lovely offload to Max Burey, who sent Potter in to score.

But Donaldson’s second missed shot of the half meant the Force only closed to within a penalty.

A late linebreak to Potter threatened to turn the game on its head, but the prolific tryscorer, who won a premiership with the Leicester Tigers only two years ago, dropped the ball on the deck after copping a stray leg as he was tackled to the ground by Corey Toole from behind.

Donaldson lamented his side’s star to the second half that invited the Brumbies back into the contest.

“We had a great first half,” he said. “Our message was to come out, get first points, and get on top of them, but we gave away a yellow card and the penalties kept piling up.

“They went to their rolling maul and it’s tough to get back momentum at GIO [Stadium]  when you’re giving them that many penalties and that’s where we fell behind.”

After being blown away by the Chiefs last week in Super Round, halfback Ryan Lonergan said the Brumbies’ ability to withstand adversity showed some progress.

“The Force was quality that whole time,” he said.

“They put us under so much pressure, particularly at the lineout, and for us to be able to grind that out sort of shows a lot of growth in the group since last week.”

Asked whether coach Stephen Larkham had laid down the law in the dressing sheds after a sloppy first half, Lonergan said Wallabies great turned coach was calm and measured compared to his predecessor.

“Not really,” Lonergan chuckled. “He doesn’t really have that. I’m used to Dan McKellar, I don’t think anything will ever top that.

“It was more around our carry and recycling the ball. We were making a lot of inroads, but just our recycle was poor. On top of that, with our lineout being under a lot of pressure, it put us under a lot of stress.”