Brumbies stage come back

Canberra - Australia captain Stirling Mortlock became Super 14 rugby's all-time top point-scorer on Saturday in leading the Brumbies to a 37-15 win over the Blues.

The win moved the Brumbies into the top four and a potential semi-final spot pending next week's final regular-season round. The Blues were six points outside the top four and with no chance of making the playoffs.

Mortlock moved past former All Blacks and Crusaders pivot Andrew Mehrtens' record of 990 points when he scored a converted try just after halftime. He trailed by eight points going into the match, and his 12 points from a try, two conversions and a penalty gives him 994 points in his Super 14 career.

The Blues led 10-6 at halftime but the Brumbies rallied to score four tries in 16 minutes in the second half.

The Blues, without injured All Blacks locks Ali Williams and Anthony Boric, lost for the third time in a row.

"It's quite disappointing, we couldn't get the momentum. The Brumbies came out strong in that second half and we weren't able to cope with the pace," Blues captain Keven Mealamu said.

Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles said the Brumbies did some soul-searching during the break.

"We were pretty honest with ourselves at halftime, and the second half was so much better," Hoiles said. "We worked harder for each other."

The Brumbies close the regular season with a match against first-place Waikato next weekend in Hamilton, New Zealand.

"We give ourselves a good shot at every game we play, so hopefully we'll do it again," Hoiles said.

Scorers:

Brumbies - Tries: Huia Edmonds, Francis Fainifo, Stirling Mortlock, Patrick Phibbs, Sitaleki Timani. Conversions: Mortlock (2), Matt Toomua.

Penalty: Mortlock. Drop Goal: Toomua.

Blues - Tries: Jimmy Gopperth, Joe Rokocoko. Conversion: Gopperth. Penalty: Gopperth.