The Queensland Reds piled on 40 unanswered points in a 33-minute blitz to come from behind and thrash the Melbourne Rebels 46-29 in an all-Australian Super XV clash yesterday.
Trailing 17-6 just before halftime, the Reds suddenly turned the match around with a brilliant display of running rugby, crossing for six quick tries.
The Rebels, who would have gone to the top of the Australian conference standings with a win, did pick up a bonus point for scoring four tries, but had no answer to Queensland’s onslaught, suffering their sixth loss of the season.
Photo: AFP
“What can you do, we just didn’t have the ball for about 30 minutes in that second half,” Melbourne captain Scott Higginbotham said. “That what’s good sides do, they can turn the table, stop your momentum and turn it to their own advantage.”
For the Reds, it was just their third win of a poor season, but enough to lift them off the bottom of the standings after giving up 58 points against the Canterbury Crusaders the previous weekend.
“We had to stick to our game plan. It was just about looking at everyone’s own backyard rather than pointing fingers,” Queensland skipper James Slipper said.
“We just dumbed everything down and did the basics right. We came out on top tonight, but it’s still been a tough year,” he said.
The Rebels made a great start to the match at Brisbane’s Lang Park, with Fijian-born winger Sefanaia Naivalu scoring two spectacular first-half tries, the first from inside Melbourne’s quarter, to open up an 11-point lead.
However, the Queensland Reds scored four minutes before the break through lock Rob Simmons, then came out full of running after the restart.
Queensland wing Lachie Turner bagged a double, while flyhalf Jake McIntyre, winger Chris Feauai-Sautia and openside flanker Liam Gill crossed once each during the bombardment.
The Rebels picked up two late consolation tries from winger Dom Shipperley and lock Luke Jones, but it was too late to turn things around.
BLUES 23, BULLS 18
The Auckland Blues battled hard in the face of some late pressure to overcome the Northern Bulls 23-18 at Eden Park yesterday as the struggling New Zealanders registered just their third victory of the Super XV season.
The Bulls did earn a losing bonus point to leapfrog the Stormers at the top of the South African conference standings, but will rue a missed chance to claim victory when they gave up a late try.
Both teams scored two tries, but Auckland got the decisive touchdown 12 minutes from time when inside center George Moala crashed over.
Auckland flyhalf Ihaia West landed his second conversion after booting three first-half penalties in what proved the difference, with the Blues defense holding out the Bulls in the final few minutes.
“The boys really stuck to it tonight,” Auckland captain Keven Mealamu said. “It was never going to be easy, but we did a good job and this will build some confidence for next season.”
The Blues scored the opening try in the 18th minute when Bulls flyhalf Handre Pollard failed to find touch with a clearance and fullback Lolagi Visinia scored on the counterattack.
The South Africans did close the gap before halftime when Jan Serfontein scored near the posts, then grabbed the lead after the break when the center scored his second.
However, the Blues regained the lead when Moala dived over from close range after a long buildup of pressure, then kept the visitors scoreless for the rest of the match.
“It was really disappointing for us tonight, but you have to give credit to the Blues for the way they played,” Bulls skipper Pierre Spies said. “We made too many mistakes, we didn’t build momentum or get enough points on the board, so we’ve got to have a good look at ourselves.”
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