Timani comes back to haunt Brumbies

The Waratahs got back to victorious ways on Saturday courtesy of a 29-22 win, with ex-Brumby Sitaleki Timani scoring late on at Canberra Stadium.

It had looked as though the points would be shared after Ben Alexander crossed with just four minutes remaining. However the see-saw trend that had dominated much of the contest continued when lock Timani stretched to seal the points.

There was little running rugby for the fans who had paid out to watch Australia's second and third best team - according to the current standings.

Only penalties were recorded in the first-half as Matt Giteau and Kurtley Beale traded four apiece to leave the scores at 12-all going into the break.

Upon the resumption it was more of the same until the hour mark until full-back Beale began to come more and more into the game. And it was his grubber through to Ryan Cross that created the first try of the day in the left-hand corner.

Beale added a further three points to take it to a 22-15 lead but when Alexander went over late in proceedings, it seemed a draw was likely.

However then up stepped replacement and former Brumbies second-row Timani, who used all of his wingspan to seal a vital Super Rugby win that ultimately broke Canberra hearts.

Man-of-the-match: Forward duo Ben Hand and Ben Mowen impressed for their respective franchises but we have to go for Matt Giteau. It was great to see the Wallaby playmaker attacking the line a lot more and he was unlucky to finish on the losing side.

The scorers:

For Brumbies:
Try: Alexander
Con: Giteau
Pen: Giteau 5

For Waratahs:
Tries: Cross, Timani
Con: Beale
Pen: Beale 5

Brumbies: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Colby Faingaa, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Huia Edmonds, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Anthony Hegarty, 17 Salesi Ma'afu, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Pat Phibbs, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Robbie Coleman.

Waratahs: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Tom Carter, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Pat McCutcheon, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Daniel Halangahu, 23 Atieli Pakalani.

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)