Act Brumbies players partied till dawn yesterday after they became the first Australian side to win the Super 12 series, but coach Eddie Jones warned South African rugby had re-emerged as a world threat.
Two stunning tries in a four-minute spell by left wing Joe Roff, on his final appearance before leaving to play for French club Biarritz, and relentless second half pressure which produced 30 unanswered points saw the Brumbies home against South Africa's Sharks in Saturday night's final in Canberra.
Full-back Andrew Walker kicked eight goals out of eight as the Brumbies stepped up a gear after a tough first half when the Sharks matched them in a brutal forward clash. Lock David Giffin scored the third try that settled the outcome when he charged down outhalf Butch James's clearing kick 13 minutes from time.
Jones, who takes over from Macqueen in September, said he had been concerned at half-time. "We felt, particularly considering the travel, that they'd target the first half and really try to physically intimidate us in the first half, so at half-time we realised that the game was going as we thought it would and it was very important for us in the second half to start playing our game."
That they did, and the Sharks wilted under the pressure as ACT's win finally broke New Zealand's five-year stranglehold on the Super 12 title at their third attempt. They lost last year's final by a heartbreaking one-point to the Crusaders and in 1997 were beaten by Auckland.
Jones praised the efforts of the Sharks under new coach Rudolf Straeuli to reach the final after rising from last place in the 2000 competition.
"He's obviously got them well disciplined, and they're a fit side, they've got a nice pattern of play that works for them, and they're going to be a very difficult side to beat next year," said Jones.
Wallaby scrumhalf and Brumbies captain George Gregan said the victory after six years of Super 12, was a monument to the character of the side. "We have put so much energy into this, and for the past month there has been an attitude among us, in that we knew we were going to win it," he said.
