Australia’s Queensland Reds yesterday ended a run of six defeats with a free-scoring 47-34 win over threatened South African Super Rugby franchise the Southern Kings in Brisbane.
The Reds scored seven tries to five, with Quade Cooper returning from suspension to kick six conversions.
Former Wallaby flanker George Smith celebrated his 150th Super Rugby appearance with a try.
Eto Nabuli, Karmichael Hunt and Izaia Perese all scored doubles for the Reds, while Makazole Mapimpi (two), Chris Cloete, Louis Schreuder and Masixole Bande crossed for the Kings.
“We’re just stoked with the win. It’s been a difficult start to the season, so to run out at our home ground and earn a win for ourselves and our fans is really rewarding,” Reds coach Nick Styles said.
“It was great to see Quade and Karmichael come back into the side and have an impact, but I was also pleased with the performances of some of our younger generation, they handled the pressure of starting well,” he added.
The Reds led 14-10 at halftime and opened a 47-17 lead with less than 20 minutes left before the Port Elizabeth-based Kings finished with 17 points to close the gap to 13 points at full-time.
It was the Reds’ second win of a lackluster season, while the Kings are languishing at the bottom of the South Africa 2 conference with just one win from eight outings.
The crowd of 11,336 was the least at a Reds game in a decade since 12,500 attended the Reds-Cheetahs game in 2007.
The Reds are not to be in action again until their Australian derby with the New South Wales Waratahs in Brisbane on April 29.
The Kings, who along with the Cheetahs are earmarked as likely to be dropped by their South African union for next year’s Super Rugby competition, are to continue their Australasian tour against the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday.
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