Derbys to test Reds for finals mentality
THE ugly numbers “0-6” should be tattooed in the mind of every Reds player until they snap their damning record against Australian opponents.
If coach Nick Stiles has his way, the drought-breaker will arrive as swiftly as Thursday night in Perth when the Western Force will test how real this Reds revival is.
There were many measures of how poorly the Reds performed last year and losing all six local derbys against Aussie rivals was just about the worst.
“The simple maths (of 0-6) says you are not going to play finals,” Stiles said.
“We have to show more pride in our local derby games because there were some we didn’t fire a shot in last year.
“Games like this one in Perth are massive doublepoints games because, at the end of the day, if you win your conference you are in the finals.”
The Force scrum shunted the Waratahs 5m to set up their single Jono Lance try in a competitive 19-13 loss to the NSW Waratahs last Saturday night in rainy Sydney.
Stiles is happy to take on the Force at one of their strengths because strong scrums were the platform for two Reds’ tries when they beat the Sharks 28-26 last Friday.