The gallant Queensland Reds were shaded 38-33 by the Hurricanes in an extra-time thriller on Sunday to end Super Round.
The pulsating 11-try contest needed five minutes of extra time to find a winner at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.
Queensland Reds head coach Les Kiss was both proud and looking for improvements when he dissected the match.
“I’m super proud. We never stopped fighting but it’s still a loss,” Kiss said.
“I wouldn’t say we lost it in extra time. We didn’t do enough in the 80 minutes.”
The Reds now take aim at a clash against the Chiefs when they return to Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night for Round Three of Super Rugby Pacific.
“We have a short turnaround and the experts will freshen us up,” Kiss said.
“If we come out with the fight and heart we did in this one, the forwards getting rolling again, we’re a bit more accurate with our kicking and tidy up some loose play, that’s what we want to see.
“A draw into extra time against a team like the Hurricanes, you’ve got to take some positives from that.”
The Queensland lineout and rolling maul had a ruthless efficiency throughout against the Hurricanes.
When standout hooker Matt Faessler speared over for the Reds’ fifth try and impressive Tom Lynagh nailed the angled conversion, the Reds led 33-26 on the hour mark.
The Reds were playing against 14 men at that point. All Blacks inside centre Jordie Barrett, in his 100th match for the Hurricanes, had being been red-carded for a shoulder contact to the head when tackling Reds fullback Jordan Petaia in the 55th minute.
Hurricanes halfback Cam Roigard scored his second try to draw the scores level at 33-all with 15 minutes still to play. The Reds came close to a tie-breaker but the spectacle went to extra time.
Replacement prop Pasilio Tosi settled the match with a close range try.
Behind 5-0 early, the Reds jumped to 7-5 on 10 minutes when No.8 Harry Wilson planted the ball with authority after a surge from a well-drilled 5m attacking lineout.
The see-sawing nature of the pulsating clash continued before two try strikes lifted the Reds ahead 19-12 closing on half-time.
First, a Zane Nonggorr try off another driving maul made it 12-all before a touch of class from Wilson gave the Reds their go-ahead chance.
Wilson swept the ball swiftly off the turf at the back of a ruck like a 112kg halfback to co-captain Tate McDermott for the try on the short side.
Both sides counter-punched to keep the contest close and the first Roigard try on half-time locked the scores at 19-all at the main break.
The Reds will await scans on the shoulder of prop Alex Hodgman who was forced to leave the game late in the first half while Petaia and centre Hunter Paisami were replaced after HIA assessments.
Tries: Ruben Love 2, Cam Roigard 2, Kini Naholo, Pasilio Tosi Conversions: Brett Cameron 4
defeated
Tries: Harry Wilson, Josh Flook, Tate McDermott, Zane Nonggorr, Matt Faessler
Conversions: Tom Lynagh 4
