Super Rugby takes: Reds are Australia’s best team, Fraser McReight stars
The Queensland Reds have capped off an enthralling round of upsets by beating the previously undefeated Chiefs 25-19 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Saturday
There’s no doubt that Queensland were the better team for 79 ½ minutes, but the visitors still had a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with the full-time whistle not far away.
But the Reds stood tall. They defended 23 phases of Chiefs attack deep inside their own 22 to win what will go down as an all-time classic Trans-Tasman clash in Super Rugby Pacific.
The gap between the Australian and New Zealand sides isn’t closing anymore. It’s closed.
Reds are the best Super Rugby side in Australia
There isn’t a better Super Rugby Pacific side in Australia than the Queensland Reds right now. The Reds are different gravy.
The Reds started their season with a dominant win over arch-rivals the Waratahs at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium before suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Hurricanes in golden point.
But that extra time defeat to the men from New Zealand’s capital, who have themselves emerged as arguably the form team of the competition, was still impressive.
The Les Kiss era hasn’t just been a step towards a brighter tomorrow for the Reds – it’s been an overwhelming success after the opening three rounds.
Queensland faced a mighty task in hosting the Chiefs on Saturday, but the Reds were up for the challenge as they shocked the rugby world with a hard-fought victory.
Liam Wright, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Tate McDermott and Tom Lynagh form a young core of this Reds side. All five could very well start for the Wallabies this year.
But it takes a squad to be the best. The forwards are dominant, physical and determined, and the depth in the backline is both young and exciting.
This team will cause some headaches for opposition players, coaches and fans this season. After all, they’ve shown so far that they’re the best in Australian Super Rugby.
Fraser McReight is Australia’s Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Week
Fraser McReight is the form Australian in Super Rugby Pacific. In a competition that boasts so much talent and flair, it’s a backrower who gets the nod as the best of the best in Round Three.
Reds flanker McReight, who was crowned the competition’s best after a sensational campaign in 2023, has continued to soar during a series of strong performances to start the season.
McReight, 25, is the form Australian in Super Rugby Pacific once again. There’s a reason the Stan Sport cameras followed the flanker as he made his way off the field at half-time.
Lining up opposite a Chiefs backrow which includes All Black Luke Jacobson, McReight was phenomenal at the breakdown early on and was unlucky not to get more reward.
But eventually, midway through the first term, it was the Wallabies and Reds backrower who sent the Brisbane crowd into a frenzy after linking up with childhood friend Harry Wilson.
McReight ran in for the Reds’ second try of the evening – a score which also gave the hosts the lead for the first time. The flanker’s swan dive certainly made the moment even greater, too.
Away from the scoreboard though, McReight was a menace at the breakdown. The Queenslander won a turnover at the breakdown just before half-time which laid the platform for another Tom Lynagh penalty goal just before the break.
At half-time, McReight was among the leaders for tackles completed with 12 and also ranked equal-second for turnovers.
McReight won another massive penalty with some well-worked impact at the breakdown about 13 minutes after the break.
All of these examples, and more, just go to show that Fraser McReight was undoubtedly the Australian of the week in Super Rugby Pacific.
Reds forwards dominated when it counted
When Fijian international Peni Ravai and former All Black Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen came on for the Reds off the pine, the Queensland scrum became seemingly unstoppable.
The Reds weren’t ahead by two much, but with the Reds parked inside their own half late in the second half, the Queenslanders won two scrum penalties to relieve pressure.
But generally speaking, the Reds’ forwards were more lethal around the park. Whether it was in attack, defence or at the breakdown, the hosts got the job done.
They were the ones who did most of the work during their 23 phases of defence to win the match at the death.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments