Silencing Kiwi naysayers meant plenty for a Brumbies side who busted their trans-Tasman hoodoo with a miraculous upset of the Chiefs.
Already united by the mumps outbreak that had been so disruptive in the leadup, the men from Canberra found their motivation went to another level when they arrived in Hamilton two days out from Saturday’s 26-14 win.
Articles and media commentary highlighting Australia’s poor record on New Zealand soil wasn’t missed by coach Dan McKellar and his players, manifesting in an intense four-try performance.
“We won’t get too far ahead of ourselves but there’s been some comments the players have taken note of around Australian sides in New Zealand. I think we’ve probably quietened a few people,” he said.
“We’re not all of a sudden world beaters but we’ve achieved something special that’s really important for this group and now we can grow moving forward.”
There had been just one Australian win in the previous 46 trans-Tasman games in New Zealand.
The last time the Brumbies had won across the Tasman, it was McKellar’s first game as the team’s assistant – against the Hurricanes in March 2014.
Now a proven head coach, McKellar had his men firing against Warren Gatland’s unbeaten Chiefs from the opening whistle.
They held sway up front, allowing rookie five-eighth Noah Lolesio to open holes with offloading flair and for Wallabies Tevita Kuridrani and Tom Banks to charge into space.
Two-try forward Pete Samu showed how far he has come in 12 months, said McKellar, who also labelled fellow-back rower Rob Valetini’s early carries influential.
A bye round next week will allow the Brumbies time to fully rid themselves of the mumps contagion which McKellar said had been disruptive ahead of each of their last two games, including the late loss to the Highlanders in Canberra.
A handful of players couldn’t fly to Hamilton after testing positive to symptoms.
“It was back to the walls this week, not knowing who would be coming, having to get blood tests done on Tuesday to get the all-clear,” McKellar said.
“This club has always been built on resilience and I think we’ve shown bucket-loads of that in the last 7-10 days.”
McKellar said the character shown in Hamilton made it one of the best wins of his tenure, comparable to last year’s gritty 19-17 defeat of the Stormers in Cape Town, when his injury-hit team had to defend for long periods.