QLD LEFT RED-FACED YET AGAIN
PASSION: 10. Meaning: 10. Spectacle: 8.5. Early try-power: 8. Game management in the final 25 minutes: 3.
For all the blazing positives, the Reds have to make the honest appraisal of where they tripped up when an interstate win was there for the taking.
Coach Nick Stiles said after a plucky effort against champions the Hurricanes a month ago he was “not into courageous losses” and that brutal truth must still be the case.
The 29-26 heartbreak against NSW was fresh evidence that the Reds have to overcome tactical naivety to close out big matches.
You would not have known the Reds were leading 26-20 with 25 minutes to play if you had arrived late to Suncorp Stadium and the scoreboard was obstructed.
First it was a poor nontouch finder from halfback James Tuttle and a curious stab kick into touch on the full by Quade Cooper from a good scrum platform.
Both were ordinary kicks and it continued as the Waratahs closed to 26-23 and 26-all.
Cooper twice kicked down the throat of Israel Folau and it almost looked like he was playing with a leg niggle because neither had any real power.
By contrast, the Waratahs used flanker Michael Hooper to powerfully run them out of their defensive quarter to get them on the front foot.
That and flyhalf Bernard Foley mixing up his kicks but most of all holding on to the ball, which the Reds gave away too easily.
Post-game, Cooper was right on two scores: “The effort was amazing ... we’ve only got ourselves to blame for that one.” Cooper has to cop some of that heat just as Stiles and his rookie coaching aides do.
The Reds are now 2-7 for the season and the gains of the team will still be a mirage to the wider community unless plenty of the same intensity is aimed at the final six games.
The Reds have scored 26 tries, compared with 19 at the same stage last season, so the extra thrust is real as are young gun improvers Lukhan Tui, Izaia Perese and Co.
“I want the younger guys to now know how hard you work every week for the right mentality,” Stiles said. HIGHLANDERS 57 (Waisake Naholo 2, Patrick Osborne 2, Matt Faddes, Dillon Hunt, Greg Pleasants-Tate, Liam Squire, Rob Thompson tries Marty Banks 5, Fletcher Smith cons) d STORMERS 14 (Nizaam Carr, Dewaldt Duvenage tries Robert du Preez 2 cons) at Forsyth Barr Stadium. CHIEFS 27 (Damian McKenzie 2, Solomon Alaimalo, Hika Elliot tries McKenzie 2 cons pen) d SUNWOLVES 20 (Derek Carpenter, Fumiaki Tanaka tries Jamie-Jerry Taulagi 2 cons Hayden Cripps, Taulagi pens) at FMG Stadium Waikato. NSW WARATAHS 29 (Michael Hooper, Nick Phipps tries Bernard Foley 2 cons 5 pens) QUEENSLAND REDS 26 (Karmichael Hunt, Stephen Moore, Izaia Perese, Lukhan Tui tries Quade Cooper 3 cons) at Suncorp Stadium. Crowd: 18,781. d LIONS 24 (Elton Jantjies, Lionel Mapoe, Courtnall Skosan tries Jantjies 3 cons pen) d FORCE 15 (Ian Prior 5 pens) at nib Stadium. Crowd: 7,300. CRUSADERS 48 (George Bridge 3, David Havili 2, Mitchell Drummond, Richie Mo’unga tries Mo’unga 5 cons pen) d CHEETAHS 21 (Ox Nche, Sergeal Petersen, Raymond Rhule tries Niel Marais 3 cons) at Toyota Stadium. KINGS 44 (Masixole Banda, Martin Bezuidenhout, PieterSteyn de Wet, Makazole Mapimpi, Wandile Mjekevu, Tyler Paul tries de Wet 3, Lionel Cronje cons Cronje 2 pens) d REBELS 3 (Reece Hodge pen) at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. SHARKS 33 (Thomas du Toit, Etienne Oosthuizen, Philip van der Walt tries Curwin Bosch 3 cons 4 pens) d JAGUARES 25 (Bautista Ezcurra, Matias Orlando, Joaquin Tuculet tries Nicolas Sanchez 2 cons 2 pens) at Velez Sarsfield. Friday 5.35pm: Hurricanes v Stormers (Wellington) Saturday 3am: Cheetahs v Highlanders (Bloemfontein) 3pm: Melbourne Rebels v Lions (AAMI Park, Melbourne) 5.35pm: Chiefs v Reds (New Plymouth) 7.45pm: Waratahs v Blues (Allianz Stadium) 11.05pm: Sharks v Force (Durban) Sunday 1.15am: Bulls v Crusaders (Pretoria) 7.40am: Jaguares v Sunwolves (Buenos Aires)