Super XV Big Match Review - Reds 25 - 17 Waratahs

It always amazes me that, in this professional era, there are still rivalries that exist where the games are contested by teams who seem to just pure, straight hate each other.  I think this is bizarre because, these days, teams are so full of players who aren't from the relevant local areas or even, in some cases, the same country.  As an English example, I present the bitter rivalry between Leicester and Northampton.  Geordan Murphy is a prime example of an Irishman who probably had nothing to do with Northampton until he played against them as a young man for the Tigers.  Yet he's always been on the front line of these battles chucking punches and pulling every dirty trick in the rule book to get one over the opposition.  What had Northampton ever done to him?!  And the same goes for any player who wasn't a local for the club they play for.  Yet as soon as that shirt goes on, all the blood, hatred and passion that define decades or centuries of sporting rivalry are instantly absorbed by the wearer.   It's bloody brilliant.  And the same goes for the Reds against the Waratahs; Queensland v New South Wales.  You can always count on one thing in these games – there will be blood, no matter who's underneath the jersey.

The hotly-tipped Reds had been humbled at the hands of the Brumbies in their last outing, the opening Round of the Super XV season, but it meant they had one week of match fitness over their opposition, who once again, were being talked up as potentially the surprise package this year.  It's now time for the Waratahs to deliver on that yearly promise, however.

Despite being one game less-experienced than their opponents, it was the Waratahs who came out looking the more fired up.  They dominated possession and territory early on, although they weren't particularly threatening the Reds defence, and were rewarded with a well struck penalty by scrum half Brendan McKibbin.  A bumper crowd were excited to see ex-Brisbane favourite Israel Folau touch the ball, although he appeared to be trying too hard and threw a couple of overly-optimistic offloads to cough up possession.  It all seemed so promising, if slightly static and clumsy, for the men in blue, but then it all went horribly wrong.

In their first meaningful attack of the game, Quade Cooper sent winger Dom Shipperley, quickly becoming the scourge of the Tahs after his stunning last minute winner last year, down the right flank, and the fleet-footed speedster took advantage of the positionally naïve Folau to power over in the corner, with fullback Mike Harris knocking over a superb conversion.  No need to panic, you could almost hear Tahs captain Dave Dennis saying, since it was the visitors who had had nearly all the play up until that point. But unfortunately they did, with prop Sekope Kepu chucking a ridiculous long-range offload in midfield that was plucked off by a gleefully grateful Ben Tapuai, who went over for the Red's second score.  Harris converted again, and the Reds had gone from being 3-0 down to being 14-3 up within 5 minutes, and it was looking as though the Waratahs might be in for a bit of a thumping, especially when Harris added another 3 points to that tally.

But credit where credit's due, the men in blue dug in and stopped the rot, going close themselves through big Kane Douglas after he charged down Quade Cooper's kick, with the lock showing an impressive galloping speed before just knocking on under pressure from the Red's playmaker.  McKibbin missed a couple of pots at goal before half time to leave the Tahs 14 points behind, but it was more of the same in the second half, with the visitors dominating field position – and eventually the pressure told.  Firstly, a mad ricochet from an offload fell into the arms of fly half Bernard Foley – who'd looked sharp all match – and he drew Ben Lucas before chucking a pass out to Folau who stumbled over for a great debut try.  Foley took over the kicking duties, and all of a sudden the visitors had a belief flowing through the team, helped by the introduction of Super Rugby debutant Ben Volavola, who started to cut the Reds' defence up at will with some mazy footwork – and this kid is a fly half as well (watch out Quade).  The perfect example on this was on the 58th minute when Volavola skinned Harris on the outside and gassed his way over into the corner, with a great conversion from Foley tying the game up.

It was here though, that the Tahs' dominance stalled.  With their pack tiring after 60 minutes of gut-busting effort, the Reds began to enjoy more of the ball and started to creep into the opposition half.  A penalty for hands in the ruck was knocked over by Mike Harris before the home side scored the try of the game to seal off the encounter.  Flanker Ed Quirk, outstanding all game (despite looking like he'd spent his pre-match warm-up guzzling a keg of Tooeys), shrugged off a tackle from a weary Douglas and skipped out of another couple of challenges on a 40 metre bust before he was just scragged down by Folau 2 metres short.  Before the Tahs had time to realign Quirk had popped the ball up to the onrushing Tapuai, who dotted the ball down for his first double in Super Rugby.  Harris missed the conversion, but the victory was sealed.  A promising start for the boys in Blue, but the Reds just had too much in the locker.  Round 1 goes to Queensland.  But it's not a knockout by any means – bring on Round 2.

Let's take a look at what happened in the rest of the fixtures in what was a cracking weekend of Super Rugby:

Highlanders 27 – 41 Chiefs:  An absolutely stunning game of rugby.  Two teams who could both challenge for honours went toe to toe with some breathtaking passages of play (see below).  The Chiefs edged it in the final twenty and they scored tries through Tim Nanai-Williams (with a stunning double), Patrick Osborne, and Aseali Tikoirotuma, whilst the home side had Hosea Gear, Kade Poki and Ben Smith to thank for their scores.

Rebels 13 – 30 Brumbies:  A superb second half display saw the Brumbies score 18 unanswered points on their way to comfortable victory over the Rebels in Melbourne.  The Rebels had led 13-12 at half time after a Scott Higginbotham score, with the superb Jesse Mogg and the returning Clyde Rathbone responding for the visitors, before the Brumbies cut loose with tries from captain Ben Mowan and substitute Robbie Coleman.

Bulls 25 – 17 Stormers: The Bulls picked up an impressive victory at home against the Stormers as they look to make a statement this year.  The team from Pretoria scored their points off the boot of Morne Steyn, with a late try from hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, whilst the Stormers crossed the line via Jean De Villiers and Andries Bekker.

Kings 22 – 10 Force: The Kings opened their Super Rugby account with a shock win over struggling force.  The tournament newbies went ahead through a Sergeal Petersen try before the Force hit back with scores through Pekahou Cowan and Alfi Mafi.  Kings then scored 17 unanswered points, with Petersen adding another score, to seal the victory.

Cheetahs 22 -29 Sharks: The Sharks held off an impressive Cheetah's fightback on their way to grabbing a win in Bloemfontein.  The Cheetahs struck first through Phillip Van Der Walt before the boot of Pat Lambie and scores from Lwazi Mvovo and Marcell Coetzee took the visitors out of sight – or so they thought.  The hosts responded with scores of their own through Pieter Labuschagne and Johann Sadie, but ultimately fell just short.

Hurricanes 20 – 34 Blues: The Blues grabbed a stunning, and surprising, victory over the Hurricanes in Wellington, gaining a bonus point in the process.  A Julien Savea touchdown and a contentious penalty try for the Canes weren't enough to subdue the visitors who scored 4 tries through Frank Halai (2), Charles Piutau and a powerful effort from Rene Ranger.