ACT Brumbies started the under 20s pre-season in winning fashion on the Border with a hard-fought 29-26 result against the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday.
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The talented young rugby stars braved the Albury heat at Greenfield Park in their first hit-out of the year, with a Riverina product dominating for the victors.
Forward Angus Allen was the standout for the Brumbies in the come-from-behind, five tries to four victory.
The Rebels had the best of the early exchanges and ran in four tries to the Brumbies one, before a second half turnaround swung the match in ACT’s favour.
Brumbies under 20s coach Russell Ingram was reasonably pleased with the hit-out.
“We gave all the boys 40 minutes of football each to see where they’re at,” he said.
“They probably played their strongest side in the first half and we had a stronger side in the second half, so you can’t read into it too much.
“I thought Angus Allen was outstanding until he went off.”
However, the result was bittersweet for the Brumbies, who lost tighthead prop Tom Ross to a suspected PCL injury, while Ryan Lonergan suffered a head knock and will need to pass a concession test to play next weekend.
ACT will face arch-rival NSW in another trial at Bowral next Saturday and is likely to take a smaller playing group as it gets closer to finalising its starting line-up for the season proper.
Ingram thanked the Albury Steamers for hosting the day and was glad the Brumbies and Rebels could showcase some high-quality football to the region.
