Hurricanes winning streak ended by Brumbies as Blues beat Reds

SYDNEY :The ACT Brumbies reignited their Super Rugby Pacific campaign with a 27-19 win over Wellington Hurricanes on Saturday to hand the leaders a first loss this season, while the Auckland Blues grabbed a dramatic late victory at the Queensland Reds.

The Hurricanes were caught cold as the Brumbies played some breathtaking rugby to score tries through flyhalf Noah Lolesio, centre Tamati Tua and winger Ollie Sapsford and take a 24-5 lead after 27 minutes at Canberra Stadium.

The New Zealanders had two tries from prop Xavier Numia in the first half and a third from All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett to cut the lead to eight points at 27-19.

The Brumbies, however, muscled up to defy the resurgent Hurricanes over the remaining 34 minutes and ensure they would welcome back skipper Allan Alaalatoa from injury with a statement victory.

"It was awesome, really special to be out there with the boys," said Wallabies prop Alaalatoa, who had not played since injuring his Achilles tendon against the All Blacks last July.

"For the boys to deliver a quality performance like that really topped things off."

The win kept the Brumbies, who suffered a 46-7 loss at the Blues last week, third in the standings on 31 points ahead of the Waikato Chiefs, who beat the New South Wales Waratahs 38-22 on Friday to move to 28.

The Hurricanes stay top of the table with 37 points but are now only one ahead of the Blues.

"Pretty disappointing," said Hurricanes fullback Ruben Love. "One thing that's on my mind at the moment is has it affected our egos in terms of losing our streak or is it a learning curve for us?"

Replacement scrumhalf Sam Nock scored a try after the fulltime hooter to snatch victory for the Blues in a seesaw battle with the Reds in