The Queensland Reds tonight harnessed sparkling tries and resilient defence with 14 men for a 56-36 liftoff to their SMARTECH Super Rugby Pacific season.
After an impressive 21-0 start, the Reds had to adapt to sudden rain, three yellow cards and the dynamic counter-punching of Moana Pasifika to complete the win at Suncorp Stadium.
The Reds scored eight tries, all converted by the sweet goalkicking of Tom Lynagh (seven-from-seven) and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips. Remarkably, it came with just 36 per cent of possession for the match.
As impressive was the Reds starchy defence in their own quarter when forced to defend with 14 men for 30 minutes.
“Thirty minutes, three yellow cards…crazy stuff. The way we responded and kept showing up for each other to keep defending our line was excellent,” Reds captain Tate McDermott said.
“It shows a good future for this team. We’re really happy to start this way.”
The Reds made an impressive start with a 21-0 jump after just 12 minutes which had the crowd of 13,785 roaring.
The three tries of that opening volley showed a precision built during the hard work of pre-season.
The game was just over two minutes old when a quick pick-and-go by flanker Seru Uru produced the first try of the season after he’d won a lineout.
After eight minutes, hooker Richie Asiata produced a deft one-handed offload to put winger Filipo Daugunu over for a fine try in his return to Suncorp Stadium as a Red.
After 11 minutes, winger Tim Ryan was scooting over after a quality counter-attack off a kick return that featured interplay between Tate McDermott, Fraser McReight and Jock Campbell.
Losing centre Hunter Paisami, lock Ryan Smith and flanker McReight to yellow cards, one after the other, in the middle period of the game changed the game’s momentum.
The Reds found themselves defending with grit for lengthy passages. It wasn’t just with their tackling they resisted but in seven-man scrums.
Young prop Massimo De Lutiis, at 21, had a fine 50-minute introduction to Super Rugby with his strong defence and scrum work.
“’Mass’ was brilliant to make the tackles he did and with the way he anchored the scrum with Sef (Fa’agase) from the start,” McDermott added.
Flyhalf Lynagh was polished with his play at the line in attack, sure handling and kicking in general play.
McReight took just six minutes to force his first turnover when he got on hands on the ball and gained a penalty for his side in trademark fashion.
The flanker made 10 runs for 66m, tackled non-stop and his link play was supreme in contributing to several tries.
“How he can predict play and his support lines set him apart. Regardless of where he has been, he’s always around the ball,” McDermott said of McReight.
McReight made the final pass for the Smith try and scored one of his own late when impressive winger Daugunu bumped through a defender and passed inside to McReight.
Reserves Matt Faessler and Angus Blyth made an instant impact when brought into the game in the second half with low-driving surges at the line for tries.
It was hooker Faessler’s try just after half-time which gave the Reds some breathing space at 28-8 because the visitors came on strong to trail just 28-22 at the 52-minute mark. Lock Blyth responded with his try.
Head coach Les Kiss was delighted with the grit shown in defence and the value of the cohesion built on the pre-season tour of the United Kingdom.
“The cohesion we gained on the tour and the way the coaches built the game plans were too really big plusses that came out,” Kiss said.
“We’ve added some extra layers to our game. We don’t just play one way and we had to show that against Moana Pasifika. To stand strong and not crumble with that sort of pressure on our tryline was excellent as was our start to the second half.”
Moana Pasifika captain Ardie Savea was generous in praise of the Reds: “The Reds defence and grit was testament to them."
QUEENSLAND REDS 56
Tries: Seru Uru, Filipo Daugunu, Tim Ryan, Matt Faessler, Angus Blyth, Ryan Smith, Fraser McReight, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips
Conversions: Tom Lynagh 7,
Harry McLaughlin-Phillips
Defeated
MOANA PASIFIKA 36
Tries: Kyren Taumoefolau 2, Ardie Savea, Solomon Alaimalo, Allan Craig
Conversions: William Havili 4
Penalty Goal: William Havili
Half-time: Reds 21-Moana Pasifika 8
Crowd: 13,785
At Suncorp Stadium
