Blues dig deep for title Qld Reds win thrilling women’s tens final
THE Blues have scored two tries in the last three minutes to win a heart-stopping Brisbane Global Rugby Tens final 10-7 against the Hurricanes.
Trailing 7-0 for almost the entire match after an early converted try to Hurricanes prop Alex Fidow, the Blues dug deep and got a rich reward. It was a slow, stodgy clash at Suncorp Stadium, until it came to life when Akira Ioane crashed over in the corner, trimming the margin to two points and giving them the opening they needed.
The winning try came after the siren, with George Moala TEENAGER Alysia LefauFakaosilea became an instant hero after scoring a goldenpoint try to win a thrilling women’s final at the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens for the Queensland Reds.
The Reds and the NSW Waratahs couldn’t be split with scores locked at 5-5 after stretching over on the opposite side to spark wild celebrations among his team, which finished bottom of the New Zealand conference in Super Rugby last year. 20 minutes of regulation time and five more minutes of extra time.
It took until the 27th minute for Lefau-Fakaosilea to break the deadlock — seconds after she had applied perhaps the tackle of the tournament with a crunching hit on NSW’s Olivia Brooks.
It isn’t their first piece of tens silverware, though, having claimed the World Club 10s in Singapore four years ago. It was the second straight year the decider was contested
Reds five-eighth Zahara Temara collected the ball from the back of a scrum and dished it left to Lefau-Fakaosilea, who found the line to make it 10-5 and spark emotional celebrations.
The 17-year-old was also crowned player of the tournament. by two New Zealand teams.
There was some consolation for Australian rugby — the ending of a 12-month-long trans-Tasman losing streak.
Queensland’s 19-7 quarter- final victory against the Chiefs was the first by an Australian side against a New Zealand franchise since the opening match of last year’s tens tournament.