Brumbies too fit, too strong, too organised

Jake White’s tenure as Brumbies coach began with a win, with the two-time champions putting in a near complete performance to defeat the Western Force 25-0 in Darwin.

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Two factors that have been significant in the Brumbies pre-season so far has been the time the squad has spent together combined with a gruelling fitness regime that has had all players to a man record personal bests across the board.

White arrived in Canberra in July last year, and the head start the ACT based franchise received in establishing their combinations was obvious last night, with the team clicking into gear from the onset – in contrast to a very rusty looking Force outfit.

The Brumbies scored tries via Ben Hand and Christian Lealiifano, while shared five penalties Nic White and Zack Holmes.

Matt Toomua impressed playing at flyhalf, and the performance of young Brumbies players, many of whom will be unfamiliar to fans outside of Canberra, was notable for the maturity and structure of the Brumbies throughout.

They very much looked a ‘Jake White’ product.

However the World Cup winning former Springboks mentor said the final score wasn’t indicative of how the match progressed.

"I was pleased with the way things went tonight, but we mustn't get ahead of ourselves, this is just a trial and there is still plenty of room for improvement," White said.

"The score isn't a true indication of how things went tonight. The Force weren't taking their shots at goal and we were, but I'm still very pleased with the effort."

The Brumbies travel to Brisbane to face the Reds in their next pre-season match next week before returning to Canberra to play the ACT XV on February 16.

The ACT based side recorded their best result of 2011 towards the end of the Super Rugby season, handing the eventual Super Rugby champions their only home defeat of the year.