Greg Growden, SMH | February 14, 2009

IT'S summer. We're still working on our tans. Nonetheless in the wrong season that autumn rugby indulgence, otherwise known as the Super 14, could not have started on a more spectacular note at the House of Pain last night.

Last minute victory. Dramatic field goal. Whooping and hollering. Anguished losers close to tears. Crazy bash-and-barge tries. And best of all, to start it off there was 100 seconds of unbroken play without one shrill from the referee's whistle.

Yes, the rugby season is upon us, and if the Brumbies-Highlanders game, which yielded nine tries, is any indication of what's to come, the Super 14 could become the required elixir to make us temporarily forget about all that financial doom and gloom.

The Brumbies are delighted they somehow got out of Dunedin with a first-round triumph, after giving the Highlanders a 19-point head start. And those masterminds at Wallaby HQ would have been as delighted that one of their main men took another step towards ensuring longevity to his international career.

When Stirling Mortlock and his Welsh counterpart Jamie Roberts collided last November during the Millennium Stadium Test, making a deafening sound similar to the crashing of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra cymbals, the Wallaby captain must have wondered whether his slotting into No.12 was a wise career move.

The long-time outside-centre had been pushed in one spot due to the early tour departure of Berrick Barnes, with Wallaby coach Robbie Deans and company believing that being closer to the action would work in the 31-year-old's favour and help him hang around until the next World Cup in 2011.

The Kamikaze Kid knows only one way - straight, fast and direct - and being just one pass away from the action at No.12 appeared enticing. However, after smashing into Roberts in the opening minute of the Welsh Test, putting Mortlock into la la land while his opponent staggering around the field for 15 minutes with a fractured skull, the skipper would have been excused if he went up to his coach and said: "Forget it. Find some other mug."

Three months on, it's not the case. Mortlock was last night back at No.12. How he operated basically won the Brumbies the match.

It just took the Brumbies a bit of time to work out how to use Mortlock properly. Set moves are perfect. Putting a pressure on him also has the desired effect, as shown in the opening quarter where the visitors decided not to tackle.

Sanity returned in the 25th minute when from a scrum in the Highlanders quarter, the Brumbies front row, who deliberately did not set square all game, put the pressure on, providing the clean ball that enabled halfback Patrick Phibbs, fullback Mark Gerrard and Mortlock to perform an oft rehearsed move. A wide pass to Gerrard, with Mortlock charging in at full speed off his right shoulder was enough to start the Brumbies revival with his 50th Super football try.

Then in the second half, from the back of a breakdown, Mortlock had the room to again attack the line at full speed, hit and spin in the tackle, and once more finish off the attacking move. It was then time to get some other people into the action. Mortlock's impact improved when his five-eighth Christian Lealiifano, who in last week's trial against the Waratahs obviously thought he was rugby's version of Cliffy Lyons by running across field all night, realised how much more effective it was to go straight, and take the ball to the line.

That gave better formation to the Brumbies attack and with it came a marvellous Mortlock cut-out pass to Gerrard that put the former Wallaby away for the team's fourth try. And when it got a bit silly in the final moments, with the Highlanders taking a one-point lead, Mortlock's experience told. In the last minute, Mortlock just put his head down and barged into several opponents, making crucial territory.

His teammates got the hint and followed Mortlock's example. A few phases later, Lealiifano was close enough to the sticks to kick the winning field goal. Cheeky matchwinning stuff. And all due to the Kamikaze Kid.