Waratahs beat Brumbies 29-22 in Super 15

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Replacement lock Sitaleki Timani scored from the last play of the game to give the New South Wales Waratahs a 29-22 win over the ACT Brumbies in the Super 15 on Saturday.

The Tongan international, a former Brumby player, stretched a long arm through a goal-line ruck to force the ball for the winning try, deciding a match that for much of its course had seemed to be bound to be a stalemate.

Waratahs fullback Kurtley Beale kicked 19 points from two conversions and five penalties and Brumbies flyhalf Matt Giteau kicked 17 from one conversion and five penalties.

They also laid on their team's first tries as the sides battled to a 22-22 deadlock with the final whistle about to sound.

Timani's second ever Super rugby try gave the Waratahs their first win in Canberra in six years and a third victory out of five games this season.

Beale's deft chip kick created a try for Waratahs center Ryan Cross in the 60th minute and Giteau's charge-down of Beale's clearing kick produced a try for prop Ben Alexander which leveled the scores five minutes from fulltime.

Beale's conversion of Timani's try provided the last points of the game, but the Brumbies still earned a consolation bonus point for a loss by seven points or less. Defeat left the Brumbies with only one win from five games but still in third place behind the Queensland Reds and Waratahs in the five-team Australian conference.

The Waratahs' hard-fought win restored some pride after last week's upset loss at home to South Africa's Cheetahs and staved off what might have been their third straight defeat.

"It's been a tough week after last week's performance and to turn it around like that was pleasing," Waratahs captain Phil Waugh said. "To put ourselves in a position to win that game like we did and to come back right at the death there was a big effort.

"That try right at the end there by big Sita (Timani), those sort of plays can change a season."

The first 60 minutes of the match were dictated by tight defenses, handling and tactical errors and by the goal-kicking duel between Beale and Giteau. Both kicked four goals from five attempts in the first half to produce a 12-12 deadlock at halftime.

Giteau added his fifth penalty in the seventh minute of the second half when Waratahs inside center Tom Carter was sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul. Even with New South Wales down to 14 men, linebreaks and tryscoring chances were rarities.

Cross finally broke the drought in the 60th minute, fetching Beale's kick behind the defense and using his strength to crash over in the corner. Beale converted for a 19-15 lead and added his fifth penalty five minutes later to push the Waratahs ahead 22-15.

It was in the nature of a desperately close match that the Brumbies rallied and eventually tied the scores. Giteau charged down Beale's goal-line clearance in the 75th minute, the Brumbies regathered and Alexander ran onto a short pass to force his way through the defense. Giteau converted.

The match seemed likely to end with the scores tied and, in many ways a draw would have been the most accurate measurement of the merits of both teams, but the Waratahs produced one final surge and Timani the winning try.

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New South Wales 29 (Ryan Cross, Sitaleki Timani tries; Kurtley Beale 2 conversions, 5 penalties) def. ACT 22 (Ben Alexander try; Matt Giteau conversion, 5 penalties). HT: 12-12.