Wests count their Peni despite having no Chance after send off
Chance Peni's hopes of playing for the ACT Brumbies again this year will hinge on a judiciary hearing after he was sent off for a dangerous tackle in his comeback from suspension on Saturday.
But it is hoped a soft landing and no injury to his opponent will help him avoid another ban after a tackle went wrong in his cameo appearance for Wests at Griffith Oval.
Peni was left gutted at the end of a gritty win against Easts 51-36, with Wests forced to play with 14 men on the field for 63 minutes after the Brumbies flyer was shown a red card in the first half.
It was a twist to Peni's return to the field after the Super Rugby judicial panel slapped him with a harsh seven-week ban for a high tackle in April.
This time Peni put a good hit on Easts winger Richie Tuilulua in the 17th minute, but twisted and lifted him above the horizontal before Tuilulua landed on his shoulder.
Peni was the first to check if Tuilulua was OK and the Easts winger bounced back to his feet ready to play on before the referee intervened and sent Peni from the field.
There was no malice or intent, but Peni has been suspended three times in the past 12 months for tackling incidents and is now hoping he'll avoid another stint in the sideline.
But with just three games left in the Brumbies season, he faces a nervous wait to find out if he will get the chance to play again before the end of the Super Rugby campaign.
The tackle was one of the only things that went wrong for Wests, who kept alive their faint finals hopes with an impressive triumph.
They scored six tries and unearthed a John Eales-style goal-kicking lock in Tristan Stanley, who had a near perfect day with the boot to slot six conversions and three penalties in the 15-point win.
The win moved Wests off the bottom of the ladder and gives the grand finalists of last year an outside chance of forcing their way into the top four if results go their way.
"It was very gutsy ... to play for 60 minutes with 14 blokes is pretty good. Hopefully we can keep going," said Wests coach Craig Robberds.
"I haven't looked at the ladder, but we know it's going to be hard to make [the finals]. We've just got to win as many as we can and see what happens. We'll need a bit of luck."
The battle for ladder positions will heat up in the coming weeks with just four games left in the regular season.
Easts are fighting for their first play-offs appearance in 10 years and are clinging to a top-four spot in the foundation club's 80th year.
They looked like they could blow Wests off the park when they scored in the first minute after James Verity-Am set up No. 8 Junior Monu.
But Wests stole the lead not long after and never handed it back, with Seb Lorraway and Byron Hollingworth-Dessent scoring doubles and Stanley finishing with a personal haul of 21 points.
The other John I Dent Cup games had major impacts on the ladder as well. Tuggeranong cemented its place at the top of the table after beating Gungahlin while Queanbeyan moved a step closer to the finals after beating the Uni-Norths Owls.
Easts coach Tim Cornforth hopes his team learnt a valuable lesson after failing to capitalise on their one-man advantage, urging them to move on quickly before a clash against Royals next weekend.
"Wests played really smart, turned us around and sometimes the opposition having 14 men can affect you mentally," Cornforth said.
"It was patchy from us. It's a learning curve for us. We've got the team to be there at the end, but the belief and fight has to be there again."
AT A GLANCE
John I Dent Cup: WESTS 51 (Seb Lorraway 2, Byron Hollingworth-Dessent 2, Ali Johnstone, Brodie Leber tries; Tristan Stanley 6 conversions, 3 penalties) bt EASTS 36 (Mees Erasmus, Junior Monu, Jacob Abel, Otto Wrakonei, George Morseu, James Verity-Am; George Morseu 3 conversions); TUGGERANONG VIKINGS 31 (Callum Smith, Richard Joyes, Michael Henry, Ernest Suivai, Jordan Jackson-Hope tries; Isaac Thompson 3 conversions) bt GUNGAHLIN EAGLES 21 (Henry Speight, Alex Small, Rutikha Ilolahia tries; Josh gillard 3 conversions); QUEANBEYAN WHITES 24 bt UNI-NORTHS OWLS 17.
Women: Uni-Norths Owls 53 bt Gungahlin 0
Second grade: Wests 27 bt Easts 25, Tuggeranong Vikings 31 bt Gungahlin Eagles 13, Queanbeyan Whites 18 bt Uni-Norths Owls 15.
Colts: Easts 36 bt Wests 12, Tuggeranong Vikings 40 bt Gungahlin Eagles 12, Queanbeyan Whites 47 bt Uni-Norths Owls 21.
FIRST DIVISION
First grade: Gungahlin Eagles 47 bt Easts-RMC 5, Goulburn 36 bt Queanbeyan Whites 36, Cooma 38 bt Wests 0.
Second grade: RMC 35 bt Gungahlin 21, Queanbeyan Whites 59 bt Goulburn 17, Cooma 39 bt Wests 32.