Sport World sport
ACT captain Stirling Mortlock became the first player in Super rugby to go over the 1 000-point mark, kicking three conversions and a penalty for the Brumbies in their 24-15 Super 14 win over the Western Force on Friday.
The 32-year-old Wallaby center and former Australia captain came into the game with 996 points in his 118th Super match. He has also played 80 tests for Australia.
Josh Valentine and Stephen Moore scored first-half tries for the Brumbies and hooker Huia Edmonds another with eight minutes left. Wallaby fullback James O'Connor kicked four first-half penalties and another in the second to account for the Force's scoring.
Trailing 17-15, O'Connor missed a sixth attempt with 10 minutes left that would have given the Force the lead for the first time in the match.
Valentine scored the first try in the 11th minute after a long run by prop Ben Alexander following a pass from Mortlock. O'Connor kicked a penalty to make it 7-3 before Moore scored a converted try for a 14-3 Brumbies lead.
The rest of the half belonged to the Force as O'Connor kicked three more penalties for a 14-12 Brumbies advantage at halftime. Both teams were plagued by numerous handling errors with a slippery ball due to high humidity.
"The ball was a bit greasy out there, but it was the same for both teams," Force captain Nathan Sharpe said. "With 10 minutes to go, we were still in it. Next week we might play the same way and get more out of it."
