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England-bound Brumbies centre Len Ikitau broke his try drought with a hat-trick while his Wallabies teammate Tom Wright was at his electrifying best in a riot of a 38-21 bonus point win over Fijian Drua in Canberra.
Ikitau hadn’t scored a try since May last year but he looks stronger than ever before ahead of a massive season for the Wallabies, with the British and Irish Lions tour on the horizon.
“In attack he’s very good close to the line, defensively he’s outstanding. As a 13 I think he’s the best in the world,” said coach Stephen Larkham of Ikitau.
The softly-spoken Ikitau was his usual modest self afterwards, declaring he’d rather set up tries than score them “so I don’t have to do these interviews.”
He was on a mission after being disappointed with his own performance in the win over the Blues last week.
“I just wanted to come in and make sure that I was carrying well and defending well,” Ikitau said.
Larkham was also delighted with the impact of Wallabies fullback Wright, who was back to his blistering best with the ball.
“He was outstanding tonight,” said Larkham. “He started the season a little bit slow. I don’t think he would have been happy with the Force game, made a few errors and ran out of steam – he was sick the week before that. But since then he’s progressed and tonight was a very special game from him.”
In a week when the re-signings of Fraser McReight, Matt Faessler and Nick Frost (who was impressive on Friday night) to Australian rugby were rightly hailed, this was a reminder of the flipside of that coin, with Ikitau set to join Exeter Chiefs when the season is done and dusted.
Len Ikitau of the Brumbies is tackled during the round five Super Rugby Pacific match between ACT Brumbies and Fiji Drua at GIO Stadium, on March 14, 2025, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
On this form he will be an interesting point of debate in 2026 when the Wallabies next coach is picking teams.
Ikitau has had plenty of fitness issues but he appears to be in rude health.
“When you get injuries, and you get back-to-back injuries, and you don’t get that rhythm of playing week-in-week-out, I think you can see the benefit of him playing good off-season,” said former Wallaby James Horwill on Stan Sport.
“And when he gets time in the saddle, that’s where I think you’ll see the benefit from him. I think he’s an important player for Australian rugby.”
It was a crazy game – as they so often are when the Drua are involved, even though they haven’t won on the road in 18 attempts or since round one one, 2023.
At 28-7 up at the break the Brumbies looked to be cruising, but two Drua tries inside the opening eight minutes changed the narrative.
The Brumbies response was a classic third for Ikitau, set up by Wright’s weaving, thrilling run and a hail Mary pass that paid dividends.
It was a slow burner of a contest, before it exploded into life.
The Brumbies dominated territory early on but the game was almost 20 minutes old before they finally got on the scoreboard, a first try to Ikitau sparking an avalanche of points with 28 coming in the next 10 minutes.
His opener came after a strong run from Charlie Cale, who found joy marauding down the right edge, but Ikitau, who looks to have added a deal of heft in the off-season, crossed with a big show of strength through several would-be tacklers.
If the first one took a while to arrive, the Brumbies didn’t have to wait long for their second. Ikitau went close again but the ball was recycled and Ryan Lonergan crossed from close range.
Fiji hit back straight away. Winger Ponipate Loganimasi raced through and kicked ahead. He received a slight tap from a static Wright and dived theatrically. Referee Jordan Way deemed a penalty was enough and from the restart the Brumbies were powerless to stop Elia Canakaivata powering over.
It was merely a blip for the hosts. Ikitau added his second after a surge from Wright, who then set up one for Corey Toole with a sweet dummy, drawing in the last defender and passing it off for an easy touchdown from the flying winger.
Noah Lolesio missed a penalty shot right on the halftime siren, hitting the upright, but it looked at that stage as if would have little impact.
But the Drua smashed it out of the gates in the second term. They scored a fabulous Fiji trademark try, sweeping from side to side, breaking lines and causing defensive chaos before Motikiai Murray went over.
Then on 48 minutes Tevita Ikanivere followed up a chip behind the defensive line and benefitted from a fortunate bounce.
Ikitau got his third, thanks to Wright’s daring run and pass, but the Drua kept coming. A knock on over the line deprived them one try and a dropped ball another.
With eight minutes to go and 12 down the Drua seized on a poor clearing kick from Noah Lolesio, who twice admonished himself for errors on Friday, and had a series of penalties near the Brumbies line.
The hosts soaked up waves of attack before Luke Reimer, man of the match when the sides last met, did what he does best, forcing a Brumbies penalty. He went up the other end and polished off the game with a try.