Reds reignite Aussie Super Rugby ambitions
WHILE Australia’s hoodoo might still remain against New Zealand teams, the Queensland Reds pulled off an almighty upset to keep their Super Rugby season alive.
That was the story of round 11, with Brad Thorn’s Reds stunning the Lions with an unbelievable first-half performance on Saturday.
Queensland led 24-0 at halftime against last year’s grand finalists and received a standing ovation from the Suncorp Stadium crowd.
The South African conference leaders were always going to bounce back to give Reds supporters heart palpations before the hosts hung on to claim a memorable 27-22 victory.
The fourth win of their campaign lifted the Reds to 17 points and above the Brumbies on the Australian conference table.
In Canberra, the Brumbies couldn’t do enough to cause a major upset of their own against the powerhouse Crusaders.
The hosts had their chances in Saturday’s match at GIO Stadium but lost 21-8 after failing to take advantage of the visitors being two men down for eight minutes. The top-of-the-standings Crusaders scored all their points in a 15-minute period midway through the first half, after Henry Speight opened the scoring for the Brumbies.
The result extended New Zealand teams’ dominance over their Australian rivals to 36 consecutive wins.
Disciplinary issues cost the Melbourne Rebels dearly in their 34-18 loss against the Stormers as they slumped to a fourth-straight loss. Having lost to the Bulls in Pretoria the previous week, the result extended the franchise’s winless record in South Africa to 15 matches.
After being the early frontrunners in the conference, the Rebels sit second behind the Waratahs on 21 points.