It was cruel luck for the Sharks, who had started as the very lowly underdogs.

There were two tough decisions late in the match which helped the Brumbies’ cause. First Craig Davidson was shown a controversial yellow card. Matt Giteau broke and slipped. The first player was Davidson who bent to get the ball. Giteau hung on and other Brumbies arrived. Where many referees were penalised, Davidson was sent to the sin bin.

Then after the siren had gone a and the scores locked at 20-20, Clyde Rathbone had a run down the right-wing. He was tackled, the ball came back to the Brumbies and two loitering props were penalised in front of the posts to give the Brumbies two extra points and the Sharks one fewer.

The sun shone in Auckland. The rain fell in Pretoria and it fell in Canberra in a perverse weather weekend. And the rain had a huge effect on the match as the players struggled to keep the ball in their possession.

The Brumbies had the better of the first half, but ended trailing 6-3 at the break. Butch James had kicked two penalties and Joe Roff had missed two before he scored with a simple one in the dying moments of the half.

The Brumbies had come closest to scoring a try - a magnificent effort that made a mockery of the conditions. Luke Watson kicked, the Brumbies came back and kicked further and then Brent Russell kicked and did not get it out. Mark Gerrard ran back, accelerated through a gap and grubbered ahead. Clyde Rathbone snapped it up and went over as Henno Mentz and Adrian Jacobs tackled him. It was a tough one referred to the Television Match Official. Paul Marks, the TMO, struck a blow for impartiality by deciding that the ball had been held up.

Later the skilled lock Radike Samo, a hybrid of a tight forward and a back, footed ahead and forced a line-out six metres from the Sharks’ line. The Sharks were penalised. The Brumbies went for a five-metre line-out, which the Sharks won but in doing so conceded a five-metre scrum. Trevor Halstead was penalised in a tackle and Roff tapped the easy penalty over. The half-time whistle went.

After Giteau’s kick-off to start the second half went dead, the Sharks attacked and James scored when Scott Fava was penalised. That made it 9-3.

Then Davidson got a brilliant try. The Sharks slapped the ball back in a line-out and Davidson got what looked like a hopeless ball. But he dodged artfully, beat five Brumbies and then surfed in for a try in the corner. James’s conversion hit the upright, but the Sharks were ahead at 14-3.

The rain stopped for a while and the Brumbies got going. They got two tries in eight minutes. First fly-half Mark Bartholomeusz, the most incisive inside back for the Brumbies, broke and the ball then went wide to the Brumbies’ left where Mark Gerrard got over in Russell’s tackle. Roff converted from far out - 14-10 after 58 minutes.

When Russel Winter was penalised for attacking a Brumby sentinel, the Brumbies set up a five-metre line-out, which became another five-metre line-out when AJ Venter was penalised. From the line-out, replacement lock David Giffin played the ball down to Bill Young. Owen Finegan obstructed a defender to open a gap for Young who scored - 17-14 to the Brumbies after 66 minutes.

When Giffin was penalised at a tackle, James levelled the scores.

Then came the yellow card for Davidson and a penalty for Roff. That made it 20-17 after 73 minutes.

Back came the Sharks. The Brumbies were penalised for obstruction and James bashed it over. That levelled things at 20-20.

Then came the dying minutes and victory for the Brumbies and grievous disappointment for the Sharks.

Man of the match: George Gregan had a great game on defence and in his generalship. Mark Bartholomeusz was clever and incisive. Joe Roff was all things cool and effective. Mark Gerrard always looked as if he could turn a little into a lot. For the Sharks Butch James was a dominant figure, keeping his men going forward and sending the Brumbies scrambling. His defence was as committed as always and his goal-kicking almost impeccable. Luke Watson was all effort, energy and skill, but our choice is James.

Moment of the match: Craig Davidson’s try out of nothing is the choice, but Radike Samo’s kick was a delight.

Villain of the match: Technically it was Davidson. Tough. The Sharks conceded many penalties in the match - 16 to the eight of the Brumbies.

The scorers:

For the Brumbies:Tries: Gerrard, YoungCons: Roff 2Pens: Roff 3

For the Sharks:Try: DavidsonPens: James 5

The teams:

Brumbies: 15 Joe Roff, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 13 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Mark Gerrard, 10 Mark Bartholomeusz, 9 George Gregan, 8 Scott Fava, 7 George Smith, 6 Owen Finegan (vice-captain), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Radike Samo, 3 Nic Henderson, 2 Jeremy Paul, 1 Bill Young.Replacements: 16 David Palavi, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 David Giffin, 19 Tamaiti Horua, 20 Matt Henjak, 21 Lenny Beckett, 22 Joel Wilson.

Sharks: 15 Brent Russell, 14 Deon Kayser, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Trevor Halstead, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Butch James, 9 Craig Davidson, 8 Russel Winter, 7 Charl van Rensburg, 6 Luke Watson, 5 AJ Venter, 4 Johann Muller, 3 Brendan Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Eduard Coetzee.Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Nico Breedt, 19 Solly Tyibilika, 20 Chumani Booi, 21 Gregor Townsend, 22 Noël Oelschig.

Yellow card(s): Craig Davidson (Sharks, 73)

Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

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