‘Got to make a move’: Blues skipper keeps it honest after latest defeat

Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu couldn’t help but smile when former Wallaby Tim Horan asked when the defending champions were “going to make a move” this season, as they currently sit outside the top six with a 3-7 record.

With the playoffs just around the corner, the Blues targeted Friday’s clash with the Queensland Reds in Brisbane as a key fixture, but the home side took control almost immediately and didn’t look back during a 35-21 win.

That result has seen the Reds take hold of a spot in the top four with only a handful of regular season fixtures left to play. Queensland will travel out of town to face the Fijian Drua, NSW Waratahs and the ACT Brumbies before taking on the Hurricanes and Drua at home.

As for the Blues, time isn’t on their side. The Blues have about one month to save their season with must-win matches against the Western Force, Fijian Drua (away), Moana Pasifika (away), and the Waratahs set to define their title defence.

“I suppose we’ve got to make a move at some point,” Tuipulotu said post-game on Stan Sport after the 14-point loss to the Reds.

“We targeted today, it didn’t go well for us.

“As rugby goes, you’ve got to regroup come Monday. You’ve got to take the losses how we usually do and front up tomorrow, Monday.

“Coming up against a Force side who have improved a lot, they’re playing some really good rugby.

“Very tough but we’ve got to look forward to next week.”

12 months ago, a scintillating hat-trick from Tim ‘The Junkyard Dog’ Ryan stole the show as the Reds traded blows with the Blues. Sam Nock ended up scoring a last-gasp winner to snatch it for the visitors, but Ryan was the talk of the town that week.

This time around, Lynagh stood out with Player of the Match honours after starting the fixture with those two early tries. The fly-half otherwise looked calm and composed as the Queenslanders made a statement against the defending champs.

With the Blues down 14-nil, Mark Tele’a was shown a red card, but the visitors still managed to score their first points of the evening soon after as Kurt Eklund crashed over. The Blues had four tries disallowed up until that point, as the Reds held their opponents up over the line.

It was only a seven-point game at the break but it was pretty well all the Reds in the second term. A knock-on from Hoskins Sotutu saw another five-pointer ruled out for the Blues early in the second term, and the Reds made the most of the visitors’ misfortune.

Tate McDermott, Lachie Anderson and Richie Asiata scored a try each as the Queenslanders ran out to a commanding lead on a wet night in the Sunshine State. Anton Segner scored a 75th-minute try for the Blues but the match was never really close in the end.

“Firstly I’ll acknowledge all our Anzacs, it’s a very special day today and it’s a privilege to be hosted by the Reds here. Congratulations to the Reds… it was quite tough,” Tuipulotu reflected.

“They played physically and outplayed us right from the get-go and we struggled, put a lot of pressure on us, especially at set-piece and we couldn’t really get back into it consistently.”