The Queensland Reds have fallen 28-19 to the Fijian Drua in steamy Suva where a three-try rally came up short today.
The Reds bounced back from a scrappy start where their own errors contributed to a 12-0 deficit with only seven minutes on the clock in the Super Rugby Pacific clash.
Winger Suliasi Vunivalu was off the field with a yellow card when the Reds mounted a rally.
Winger Floyd Aubrey chased hard on a high Tate McDermott kick and regathered possession at the 11-minute mark.
From the play that ensued, flyhalf Lawson Creighton stabbed a cross-kick to Aubrey on the right sideline. He caught it on the full and dived over gleefully for his first Reds try in his first run-on role.
The Reds were back to 15 players when they closed a 15-7 gap even further in conditions made slippery by pre-match showers.
This time, Creighton dummied left, speared through two defenders and stepped the final threads of defence to score a fine individual try.
Behind 15-14, momentum was with the Reds midway through the first half. A penalty conceded on half-time turned into an 18-14 deficit at the long break when Fijian Drua goalkicker Kemu Valetini slotted a long-range penalty goal from 52m out.
“The fight and the bounce-back was really good and we fought our way back into it,” Reds co-captain Liam Wright told Stan Sport.
“Probably the story of the game was the penalty and three points we conceded on half-time. That sort of ill-discipline crept in and chilled some of the opportunities we were creating in our attacking zone.”
The Reds played 30 minutes of the match with just 14 men with Vunivalu shown a second yellow card at the 45-minute mark which converted into a red card. That moment in the lead-up to the second try by Drua hooker Tevita Ikanivere left the Reds with 14 men for 20 minutes and a 25-14 deficit.
Despite some ragged play and momentum being drained by the turnover skills of the Fijians, the Reds kept fighting.
'With four minutes to play, replacement hooker George Blake scored at the back of a well-constructed mauling drive off a lineout.
It set up an exciting finish at 25-21 but it was the home side which found the extra points with a penalty goal on full-time.
“The occasion of playing in Fiji in front of such a great crowd is not lost on us,” Wright said in generous praise of more than 10,000 boisterous locals turning out in Suva.
The Reds will regroup in Brisbane this week and prepare for next Saturday’s match against the Western Force in their final regular season game at Suncorp Stadium.
The Reds remain fifth with matches against the Force and NSW Waratahs (May 31) to come to resolve the make-up of the top eight.
FIJIAN DRUA 28: Tries: Tevita Ikanivere 2, penalty try, Conversions: Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, Penalty goals: Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula 2, Kemu Valetini Defeated QUEENSLAND REDS 19: Tries: Floyd Aubrey, Lawson Creighton, George Blake, Conversions: Lawson Creighton 2 Half-time: Fijian Drua 18-Reds 14 Venue: HFC Bank Stadium, Suva
