Petaia’s late try completes Reds thrilling comeback
JORDAN PETAIA broke Brumbies hearts with a last-minute try securing the bragging rights for the Queensland Reds as Super Rugby AU’s two great powers collided in a 40-38 thriller in Canberra.
The Brumbies surged into a commanding 17-0 lead within the first 15 minutes when Pete Samu and Folau Fainga’a both scored converted tries to add to Noah Lolesio’s penalty.
Victorious in 18 of their last 19 matches on home soil, the Brumbies saw the margin of their lead slip towards the end of the half as three James O’Connor penalties were boosted by a try for NRL convert Suliasi Vunivalu.
Tate McDermott caught the Brumbies shortsighted to create a four-on-two overlap down the blindside, where O’Connor and Harry Wilson were in support to flick the ball to Vunivalu for the score in the right corner.
O’Connor undid his good work to allow the Brumbies in for their third try. The former Sale Shark knocked on to gift the Brumbies attacking territory and Samu scored his second from the scrum after former Exeter No.9 Nic White floated a pass out to the left.
O’Connor struck a penalty before the break but the Brumbies, up 24-16 at half-time, appeared to hold sway in the battle of the packs with Fainga’a going over again from a rolling maul.
The Reds rallied with Wallabies duo Taniela Tupou and Wilson scoring to set up a nervy ten minutes, with the scoreline 31-30. But the Brumbies composed themselves to stretch their lead to eight points through Issak Fines-Leleiwasa. Some sharp offloading from Samu exposed the Reds’ drift defence before FinesLeleiwasa shook off two tacklers to dive over.
A fifth penalty from O’Connor kept the Reds within distance for Petaia to provide the pivotal moment in a heart-stopping clash, as he collected Hunter Paisami’s grubber through the middle after a scrum to dot down and complete a Reds comeback.
Elsewhere, the 10-7 win for win for the Rebels over the Force may not have come close to topping the nine tries scored in Canberra, but the match was fortunate to be completed after a floodlight failure in the 74th minute brought the contest to a standstill.
The Rebels dominated 83 per cent of the territory in the first half but held only a narrow 5-0 lead at the interval, through wing Lachlan Anderson’s try out wide.
That lead was doubled on the hour mark when Marika Koroibete’s broke clear to set up Joe Powell, before Jack McGregor scored the Force’s first points with a try.
A red card to Dane Haylett-Petty for a high tackle in the final eight minutes flipped the momentum sharply as the Force overloaded the Rebels 22 trying to force their way through.
But with their backs against the wall, and power returned to the floodlights, the Rebels managed to hold on.