Reds turn up an ace in super sub Korczyk
SA N D Y - H A I R E D fl a n k e r Adam Korczyk shapes as the find of the Reds’ season from hell after lifting the gloom in Bloemfontein yesterday as a super sub.
A nasty knee injury to frontline backrower Curtis Browning in the third minute catapulted the rookie into an initiation he never imagined against the Cheetahs. By fulltime, the 20- year- old emerged as an unlikely try- scoring hero and lineout trump in a gutsy 18- 17 drought- breaker.
Snapping a six- game losing streak was only sealed by the width of the upright that rejected a penalty attempt from Cheetahs marksman Joe Pietersen with 30 seconds to play.
“Relief, joy, satisfaction ... it’s all of those things because the guys should be very proud of what they’ve done,” Reds coach Richard Graham said.
The Reds thoroughly deserved the win if only because openside titan Liam Gill could not be on a losing team with his five- star display.
As significantly, the Reds had the chance to replay the hideous field goal misfire of the loss to the Lions on full- time last month. This time, precision replaced dithering and flyhalf Nick Frisby potted the winner with six minutes left.
That the Reds signed Korczyk to a two- year development contract late last year was the tip they spied a big future in the player- of- the- carnival at the recent Australian Under- 20s titles.
“Adam only made his debut the week before for 10 minutes ( against the Bulls) so it was never our intention for him to play virtually a full game except in the emergency we struck,” Graham said.