02 May 2004	Sunday	11 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

CANBERRA, May 1: The ACT Brumbies stormed into the finals of the Super 12 rugby competition with typical flair on Saturday, smashing a struggling Wellington Hurricanes 46-25 at Canberra Stadium.

The Brumbies stuttered early on before running in seven tries to secure a bonus point from the lowest-placed New Zealand team and ensure they will compete in the semifinals with one match remaining.

Captain Stirling Mortlock finished with two tries as the Brumbies maintained their unbeaten home record from six matches there this season.

That statistic will send shudders through their rivals who will be anxious to prevent the Brumbies from securing a home finals berth when the final round is played next week.

Wellington got off to a surprising start, racing to an 8-0 lead after just four minutes.

Flyhalf David Holwell drew first blood after two minutes when he landed a penalty, and just over a minute later fullback Brent Ward chimed in with the first try courtesy of an inside pass from blindside flanker Kristian Ormsby.

The Brumbies reduced the lead to 8-7 in the 11th minute when hooker Jeremy Paul crossed under the posts to cap off a classy backline move featuring halfback George Gregan, flyhalf Stephen Larkham and winger Mark Gerrard.

But the Hurricanes showed plenty of early determination and moved to 15-7 after Gregan missed a covering tackle on winger Hosea Gear for a try which was converted by Holwell.

A further penalty in the 19th minute to Holwell moved the Hurricanes out to 18-7 prompting the Brumbies to move up a gear.

The Australian team then showed why it is one of the most potent forces in the competition by constantly keeping the ball alive even when it seemed moves had petered out.

The barrage began in the 20th minute when South African-born Clyde Rathbone raced over to ground a loose ball in the corner after flanker George Smith had miraculously managed to toe it ahead despite being cleaned up in a heavy tackle.

Five minutes later Mortlock smashed his way through two tacklers to ground the ball under the posts after running on to a clever Larkham pass, putting the Brumbies in front 19-18 after Roff landed the conversion.

Mark Chisholm added another before the Hurricanes were reduced to 14 men in the 45th minute when Luke Andrews was sin-binned for grabbing Chisholm while he was airborne in the lineout.

In the 10 minutes Andrews was off the Brumbies added another 10 points, with Mortlock - after eight phases of play - and Larkham adding unconverted tries.

Wellington fought back briefly in the 61st minute when Roy Kinikinilau crossed under the posts after being on the field for less than a minute, reducing the margin to 41-25 but the result never seemed in question.

Gerrard then capped a strong performance for the Brumbies with a final try in the 75th minute.-AFP