Hurricanes come back from 17 points down to tip over Reds
The Queensland Reds saw a Super Rugby Pacific victory go up in smoke after blowing an early lead to crash to a painful 35-17 defeat to the Hurricanes.
The Reds couldn’t have asked for a better start in their Super Round clash at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Saturday night, looking to make a mark in their first match against New Zealand opposition this season.
They raced out to lead 17-0 after 30 minutes with tries from centre Hamish Stewart and flanker Fraser McReight, but then didn’t manage to score another point.
“Pretty gutted and I know the players are as well,” Reds coach Brad Thorn said.
“These New Zealand sides, they’ll make you pay if you make those errors, play too much footy in your half, lack of discipline.”
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“Credit to our opponent – they were under pressure and they battled away and then the game went their way and we didn’t handle that pressure as well so, we’ve got to take those lessons.”
The Wellington-based Hurricanes struggled with discipline early, copping a 9-2 penalty count and both centre Bailyn Sullivan and prop Pouri Rakete-Stones were shown yellow cards for dangerous tackles.
McReight’s five-pointer came while Rakete-Stones was on the sidelines, with the livewire flanker popping out of a maul to score.
But momentum shifted in the 36th minute after the Reds failed to play to the whistle, when an intercept attempt by Hurricanes winger Julian Savea was ruled to have gone backwards and was scooped up by Sullivan who raced to the line unchallenged.
The absence of Wallabies playmaker James O’Connor through injury was felt as the Reds appeared to become rattled while their kicking game was mostly ineffective.
They lost Connor Vest to a yellow card and then let Tyrel Lomax score right on halftime as their lead was whittled back to 17-14.
With their tireless skipper Ardie Savea urging his team on, prop Lomax was in again just a minute into the second half as the Hurricanes took the lead for the first time.
Sullivan then crossed again in the 70th minute when he pounced on a perfectly-weighted kick into the in-goal by reserve playmaker Jackson Garden-Bachop, pushing the margin out to 13 points.
With the Waratahs going down to the Chiefs on Friday night, it continued the misery for Australian teams against their trans-Tasman rivals.
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland was thrilled with the way his team responded.
“To come back from 17-0 down and win is in its own way pretty satisfying,” he said.
“It took a while for us to adjust to a few things and what we’ve learned is that possession is key.
“So, when we got that right and we sorted out some discipline we were able to adapt and get into the game so I’m pretty happy with that.”
– Melissa Woods
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to comments