The Queensland Reds powered to a convincing 35-21 victory over the champion Blues on Friday night in a rousing Anzac Day result.
The Reds led 14-0 inside the opening 10 minutes through two Tom Lynagh tries and were never headed in the Round 11 clash in SMARTECH Super Rugby Pacific.
Flyhalf Lynagh was honoured as the Player of the Match when presented with the first Sellars Dixon Medal.
The Medal honours Auckland’s George Sellars and Queensland’s Billy Dixon, who played for their provinces at rugby and made the ultimate sacrifice. They died on the same World War One battlefield on the same day at Messines in 1917.
The Reds rebounded from successive losses with the intensity, poise and heroic defence they needed to repel the 2024 champions from Auckland.
As important as the opening salvos from Lynagh was a remarkable 11-minute period to follow in the first half when the Reds twice held up the Blues over the tryline to save tries and forced a penalty from a 5m scrum.
Lynagh and standout halfback Tate McDermott thwarted Blues hooker Kurt Eklund for the first save and winger Tim Ryan was instrumental in the second save with flanker Fraser McReight. The Blues had another opportunity whistled no-try in the same period.
“We denied them for a long time so defensively we had some excellent moments when it really mattered,” Reds head coach Les Kiss said.
“We certainly worked on some areas of our ‘D’ since our last game (a loss to the ACT Brumbies) that paid off.
“Those big 'E' words… effort and energy…were certainly way up and our aerial kicking caused a bit of havoc. Very happy.”
After the Blues had controlled much of the first half territory, it was a classic McDermott moment which swung the game 10 minutes into the second half.
After the strong set-up of six quick rucks, McDermott spied a chance from the base and arced around three Blues forwards with his pace and scooted 35m through a gap to score a key try.
It was clinically using their one-man advantage because the Blues were without winger Mark Tele'a for 20 minutes after a tip tackle on winger Tim Ryan was red carded. The 21-7 jump invigorated the Reds.
On 59 minutes, No.8 Joe Brial won a clean lineout, hooker Richie Asiata swept around the tail and delayed a perfect pass for Lachie Anderson coming off the blind wing. Anderson scorched over for 28-7.
Late in the game, Asiata crowned the night with a rolling maul try. It was reflective of the Reds’ dominant lineout on top of excellent maul and breakdown work.
Post-game, McDermott met the family of the late Burnett "Chappie" Schulte, who played two Tests at halfback for the Wallabies in 1946 within a year of being freed from the infamous Changi Prisoner-of-War camp in Singapore.
McDermott saw the broader picture of the night.
“The boys understood just how much it meant. None of us had played on Anzac Day before and the jersey we wore was special as well,” McDermott said.
“I’m really proud of the fellas.
“We wanted to play with speed and it was on a slippery surface where it was hard to change direction as a defender.
“Tom (Lynagh) was just composed. We speak a lot as halfback and flyhalf and not once was he worried. He really reacted well to having Jock back at fullback. Tom had another great night.”
Lynagh took the line on himself to spear over for the first try. For his second, he put up the pinpoint high kick that the Blues could not control. He backed up to finish it with a try by taking an inside pass when Campbell shot into a hole.
The Reds must now plan for a match in Suva against Fijian Drua next Saturday.
Blues coach Vern Cotter did not hide his disappointment in his team’s performance but was a positive voice to support the Reds vs Blues playing again in Anzac Weekend Round for the third straight year in 2026.
“Last year, we were a bit surprised by the passion and organisation around the day. We certainly addressed that with the team this week,” Cotter said.
“We’re embracing it and enjoying it. I thought the ceremony before the game, the anthems, The Last Post, were very good.
“It’d be a great opportunity for Eden Park to show off what it can do next year.”
QUEENSLAND REDS 35
Tries: Tom Lynagh 2, Tate McDermott, Lachie Anderson, Richie Asiata
Conversions: Tom Lynagh 5
Defeated
BLUES 21
Tries: Kurt Eklund, Sam Nock, Anton Segner
Conversions: Beauden Barrett 2, Harry Plummer
Half-time: Reds 14-Blues 7
Venue: Suncorp Stadium
Crowd: 16,924
