St.George Queensland Reds lose to Bulls in Pretoria

A two-try haul to Samu Kerevi was not enough to stop the St.George Queensland Reds falling to a 41-22 defeat to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

Despite a promising start and some patches of fine teamwork, the result extended a 15-year drought at the South African Super Rugby venue.

It was a clinical performance from the Bulls, with the margin magnified by a six-from-six goalkicking performance from Francois Brummer.

Reds co-interim head coach Nick Stiles said: “We’re thoroughly disappointed because we know we weren’t anywhere near our best tonight.

“We spoke all week about how difficult this match would be, but we just weren’t accurate enough – we knew we would have to play incredibly well to win at such a tough venue.

“We were pleased with our fight, to stick with them throughout the game, but we certainly aren’t happy with the result.”

The Reds were thrown their first curve ball after just three minutes when tireless Number 8 Jake Schatz was replaced after twisting his right knee under the weight of Bulls flanker Jannes Kirsten.

Schatz’s exit – replaced by Curtis Browning - did little to weaken the Reds scrum which heaped enormous pressure on its first South African opponent of the season. That solid platform indirectly led to the Reds first points.

The backline executed perfectly from first phase possession, with Jake McIntyre, Anthony Fainga’a, Eto Nabuli and Karmichael Hunt all handling before sending Chris Feauai-Sautia over in the corner.

Possession then dried up for the Queenslanders who defended with determination but conceded two tries in a 10-minute period leading into half time.

Still, flanker Liam Gill ensured the visitors remained in the hunt, potting a 40-metre drop goal at half time to trim the deficit to nine points.

Conceding an early penalty goal and a converted try was far from the ideal start to the second half the Reds needed.

A two-try burst of power from centre Kerevi thrust Queensland back in contention.

His second, created by a deft offload from Anthony Fainga’a, ensured Queensland was within striking distance at 27-22 with 20 minutes left.

That was when the Bulls ran away from the Reds thanks to some clinical execution from both backs and forwards.

One upside for the visitors was the debuts handed to scrumhalf James Tuttle and lock Lukhan Tui in the last eight minutes.

BULLS 41 (Marcel van der Merve, Adriaan Strauss, Lappies Labuschagne, Travis Ismaiel, Piet van Ziel tries; Francois Brummer 5 conversions, 2 penalties) d St.GEORGE QUEENSLAND REDS 22 (Samu Kerevi 2, Chris Feauai Sautia try; Jake McIntyre 2 conversions, Liam Gill drop goal) at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.