The Queensland Reds yesterday encountered spirited opposition before posting only their third win of the Super Rugby season with a 35-25 victory over Japan’s Sunwolves in Brisbane.
The Reds scored four tries to three with Japan’s World Cup star Ayumu Goromaru landing two penalties and two conversions for his Australian side over the tournament newcomers.
Queensland led 17-13 at halftime before 19,073 fans — their biggest crowd of the season — at Suncorp Stadium.
Photo: AFP
The Reds had a strong start and led 10-0 after 16 minutes, but the Sunwolves kept in the match to trail by just four points at the interval.
The home side kicked away with Curtis Browning’s second try of the match to lead 22-13 just after the resumption, but the Japanese tyros hit back with tries from Derek Carpenter and Liaki Moli in the space of five minutes to draw level at 25-25 after 56 minutes.
The Reds finished stronger with a converted try to lock Cadeyrn Neville and a penalty from Jake McIntyre to make the game safe for the home side.
The Reds were boosted by the return of prospective Wallaby center Samu Kerevi from injury, but the Sunwolves gamely gave as good as they got as they chased only their second win of their inaugural Super Rugby season.
Queensland were unable to convert their set-piece dominance into quality back for their backs and the Sunwolves, playing for the first time in Australia, looked more inventive in attack at times, making 11 clean breaks to the Reds four.
The Sunwolves might have got even closer to the Reds in the end had their flyhalf Tusi Pisi not kicked better with just four successful shots from seven attempts.
Chris Feauia-Sautia also made two try-saving tackles in the first half to deny the lively Japanese visitors.
It was also an opportunity for Test fullback Goromaru and blindside flanker Hendrik Tui to face up to some of his teammates from Japan’s World Cup team for the first time.
Goromaru’s match finished early when he was replaced midway through the second half with a shoulder injury when he failed to prevent lock Moli scoring the levelling try.
“I thought we did a lot of really good things and at the same time we let ourselves down,” Reds co-interim head coach Matt O’Connor said. “The Sunwolves are a dangerous team and we let them into the game a little too often and probably let ourselves down with inaccuracies in defense, but it was good to see the composure at the end to close it out.”
CHIEFS 36, REBELS 15
In Hamilton, New Zealand, a blunt assessment of their shortcomings paid off for the Waikato Chiefs who went top of the Super Rugby table with a bonus-point victory over the Melbourne Rebels.
On a wet night, the Chiefs scored five tries to move to 42 points, one ahead of the Canterbury Crusaders, while the Rebels remain on 23 points and with their playoff hopes slipping away.
Chiefs captain Sam Cane said there had been some serious soul-searching after losing to the Otago Highlanders in their last outing and, with a bye last week, they returned a fresher and more focused side.
Of concern for the Chiefs was how they went off the boil after chalking up 26 points in the first 30 minutes.
They put away the backline enterprise that caused much of the early damage, their control of the breakdown was diluted and it took 40 minutes before they scored again with a late flurry.
“The way we started the game, the first 30 minutes were urgent,” Cane said. “We were a lot more clinical than we had been in the last couple of weeks. The disappointing part was we did not show that for the whole 80.”
BLUES 17, FORCE 13
In Perth, Western Australia, the Auckland Blues battened down to defeat the strong-finishing Western Force in a battle of the Super Rugby strugglers.
Tana Umaga’s Blues led 17-3 at halftime and fended off the Force despite not scoring a point in the second half.
Auckland dominated the opening half with tries from Jerome Kaino and Tevita Li, but had to defend for long periods as the home side hit back in the second term.
Force skipper Matt Hodgson ploughed over from close range in the 54th minute and former Queensland Reds center Ben Tapuai kicked the home side to within four points with a penalty goal with 16 minutes.
The Force were in the Blues’ quarter for the final stages before they lost possession in a driving maul allowing the Kiwis to kill off the game.
Auckland saw out the game with 14 men after replacement forward Nic Mayhew was yellow-carded for collapsing a Force maul close to the Blues’ try-line.
The win did little to help Auckland’s lowly standing in the New Zealand conference despite the inconsistent Blues bouncing back after being thumped 43-5 by the Golden Lions last week.
It was again more heartbreak for the Force, who are still without a home victory this season.
The Force were looking for rare consecutive wins, after beating the Sunwolves in Japan two weeks ago to snap a seven-game losing streak.
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