Match Report: Reds shake up conference with shock win
The Reds upstaged the Rebels in Brisbane on Friday, to cause havoc in the Australian conference.
The 37-23 win – which included a penalty try and two yellow cards – means the Rebels will go into a straight shoot-out with the Highlanders next week, when they meet in Dunedin.
The Highlanders, who lost 22-45 to the Crusaders earlier in the day, are on 40 points – five ahead of the Rebels.
And in an unexpected spin-off, the Lions – finalists the last two years – have advanced to the play-offs. The Johannesburg-based franchise, who has a bye this week, are on 41 points and will finish eighth at worst – guaranteeing them a quarterfinal spot.
It has also opened the door for another South African franchise, the Sharks, to overtake the Rebels and book a place in the play-offs.
The Sharks have and opportunity to leapfrog the Rebels in to eighth place when they clash with the Stormers on Saturday.
The Waratahs can open the gap on their Australian counterparts and seal up the Aussie conference with what should be a routine victory over the Sunwolves.
Tries from Izack Rodda, Filipo Daugunu, Jono Lance as well as a penalty try proved too much for the Rebels, who scored through Angus Cottrell and Jack Maddocks.
The Rebels had the better of the opening exchanges, but weren’t able to breach the Reds’ defensive line.
However, the visitors did get on the scoreboard via the boot of Reece Hodge, whose 10th-minute penalty gave his side a 3-0 lead.
Four minutes later, the Rebels were penalised in the exact same fashion when Cottrell was blown up for going off hit feet whilst attempting to steal at the breakdown. Reds full-back Jono Lance made no mistake from the tee to level the scores.
After the Reds won a scrum penalty ,they forced their way in to the Reds’ five-metre zone but butchered the resulting line-out.
Although the line-out wasn’t cohesive, their scrum certainly was, with Taniela Tupou particularly brutal on Tetera Faulkner. The Tongan Thor won two successive penalties against Faulkner in this manner and by the third occasion, Paul Williams had lost his patience, awarding the Reds a penalty try, with Tupou receiving slaps on the back aplenty from his teammates.
That had given the Reds a 10-3 lead with 26 minutes gone, but soon afterwards, the Rebels hit back with a brilliant team try as they went short side via Jack Maddocks and then Ruru, who found Cottrell with the final pass – the flank diving over in the corner.
Two minutes later, the turnaround was complete when Maddocks sliced between Caleb Timu and Scott Higginbotham and through the Reds defence with nothing seemingly on. Hodge added the extras for a 17-10 advantage after 33 minutes.
However, two minutes before the interval, the Reds restored parity on the scoreboard when Rodda marked his return to the starting lineup with a try, as the Wallaby lock charged down Maddocks’ exit kick to collect and dot down.
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There was still time before the break for the Rebels to lose Faulkner to the sin-bin and concede a try – the prop having been warned by referee Williams that another indiscretion at scrum-time would result in a yellow card.
From the resulting scrum, the Reds piledrived the Rebels backwards, with Higginbotham surging down the blindside and getting the right-arm offload brilliantly away for Nabuli to finish clinically in the corner as the home side took a 24-17 lead in to the interval.
The Rebels made a good start to the second half and reduced the deficit to four points when Hodge added a three-pointer for a Rebels’ tackler not releasing.
And with 47 minutes gone, another Hodge penalty made it a one-point game after Toby Smith was penalised. In the 56th minute, The Reds’ cause was not helped when they went down to 14 men as Duncan Paia’aua was yellow-carded for offside.
The Reds did well not to concede any points with a player off the field, managing to soak up a period of sustained Rebels pressure before going up the other end and extending their lead through a Lance penalty, making the score 27-23 to the Reds with nine minutes to go.
Lance turned try-scorer moments later and seemed to put the result beyond doubt when Jordan Petaia got a classy offload away in midfield for the full-back to run a beautiful line in under the posts, converting his own try for a 34-23 lead.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
“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
3 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.
2 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…??? 🤑🤑🤑
3 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
3 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)
3 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?
2 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.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to comments