Queensland edge Brumbies 13-12
Queensland’s late season resurgence has claimed its most crucial scalp yet with the Reds narrowly defeating the Brumbies 13-12 in a bitter Super Rugby battle in Canberra on Saturday.
It puts the defending champions firmly back in the play-offs race, closing the gap to the ACT franchise to sit just five points adrift in second spot in the Australian conference.
The one-point win also gives them clear bragging rights as the form Australian team, having also beaten the Brumbies 20-13 in Brisbane in round seven.
Queensland kept the Brumbies tryless although the result could well have gone the other way if not for a wayward Zack Holmes penalty kick at the end.
With just 40 seconds remaining, the young five-eighth attempted a 38m kick and missed, allowing the Reds to breathe a sigh of relief.
The win in front of 16,123 at Canberra Stadium wasn’t all joy for the Reds whose captain James Horwill limped from the field early in the second half.
Queensland took a 10-6 lead into halftime after scoring the only try of the match.
Only penalties were traded after the break – two to the Brumbies and one to the Reds.
Referee Stephen Walsh arguably enjoyed the most on-field action of the opening half, delivering a whopping 11 penalties in the first 25 minutes.
Queensland landed a critical first blow, scoring the runaway try in just the third minute via Luke Morahan, who was brought in at fullback as last-minute cover for the injured Ben Lucas.
Morahan cleared a gap in the Brumbies line deep in his own half before executing a perfect 40m chip-and-chase, with Mike Harris converting to give the Reds an early 7-0 lead.
Two penalties to Holmes, who shone in a key five-eighth battle against Quade Cooper, then brought the margin back to a point before another penalty to Harris gave the Reds the 10-6 halftime lead.
© AAP 2013- Explore:
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May 27th 2012 @ 4:59am
KiwiDave said | May 27th 2012 @ 4:59am | Report comment
Going to be very hard for the Reds to make the finals even with this win. The Sharks won tonight and with home games to the Bulls and Cheetahs, away game to the Lions and a bye they will need them to lose at least 2 games while the Reds go undefeated. I doubt the Sharks or Crusaders will drop two games between now and the end of the season, given their nice home draw.
May 27th 2012 @ 5:13am
Jerry said | May 27th 2012 @ 5:13am | Report comment
Or if the Brumbies drop a couple….
May 27th 2012 @ 3:43pm
Rugby Diehard said | May 27th 2012 @ 3:43pm | Report comment
KD – It is definitely tough for the Reds to make the finals now. However, while I think the Crusaders will qualify they don’t have an easy road home by any means playing the Highlanders (H), Hurricanes (H) Chiefs (A), and what has become somewhat of a bogey side for them, the Force – while agreed it is unlikely to see the Force pulling off an upset in Christchurch it is quite conceivable to see them losing 2 of the other three games. The Sharks are unlikely to drop 2 games as you say but the Bulls could conceivably lose 3 of their last 4, playing the Sharks, Stormers, Lions and improving Cheetahs. The Canes will likely not make it with games v The Waratahs, Crusaders, Chiefs and a bye, while the Brumbies might just run out of puff and drop 2 of four games vs the Rebels (Away), Force, Waratahs and Blues.
For mine all 9 teams are left in the race and this is how they will finish (I preface this by saying I am a Reds fan, so clearly biased:
1. Chiefs – 68
2. Stormers – 65
3. Sharks – 63
4. Brumbies – 60
5. Crusaders – 57
6. Reds – 57 (qualify on # of wins)
7. Highlanders – 57
8. Bulls – 56
9. Hurricanes – 49
The Cheetahs, Waratahs and Rebels are the ones who can really cause some havoc if they can pull off some upset victories and these 3 for the mine are the ones most capable of it. The Lions and Force usually carry one big upset in their seasons as well.
May 27th 2012 @ 6:51am
MaxT said | May 27th 2012 @ 6:51am | Report comment
Brumbies blew that. When they shifted the ball they looked dangerous, too one dimensional in the 2nd half…rumble for 13 phases and then lose possession.
I think Genia was the difference last night.
Brumbies do have a very easy run home.
May 27th 2012 @ 7:34am
Moaman said | May 27th 2012 @ 7:34am | Report comment
Awful,disappointing spectacle for this neutral.
May 27th 2012 @ 8:46am
Ilikedahoodoogurusingha said | May 27th 2012 @ 8:46am | Report comment
It was Moaman. However I for one was not surprised. Jake White said in advance he was treating it like a final, and if anyone remembers the 2007 World Cup final, SA under White played in a similar vein, field position and push for penalties. They nearly succeeded last night, but a couple of forwards getting isolated in the red zone meant the desired penalty went the other way on at least two occasions.
May 27th 2012 @ 11:35am
bennalong said | May 27th 2012 @ 11:35am | Report comment
It makes you wonder though if the game plan in the run to the finals will follow a similar path
That would be a disaster both for the fans and for the team, who shouldn’t be changing a successful formula
May 27th 2012 @ 11:51am
justsaying said | May 27th 2012 @ 11:51am | Report comment
I can’t see the Brumbies getting past the first weekend of the finals either way. They’re just not as good as the top teams in the tournament. After wins by the Sharks and Highlanders the Reds are now extremely unlikely to make the finals, which is a shame as they look far more likely to be able to trouble the top teams.
May 27th 2012 @ 9:07am
Jack said | May 27th 2012 @ 9:07am | Report comment
and for a paying customer. The Brumbies kicking game in the first half was way overdone and poorly executed. This tactic is putting the Brumbies behind the game and playing catch-up. As we have seen this season this tactic this does not work the good teams Kicking away possession in the attacking half is driving the customers nuts. It was bloody freezing there last night and the tickets are expensive. The rules and the refs are too red hot penalising the teams in possession. The result is teams kick and kick and kick. This game will not maintain the crowds let alone new fans.
May 27th 2012 @ 9:49am
Moaman said | May 27th 2012 @ 9:49am | Report comment
I was struck by the difference in structure at maul/breakdown between this game and the 2 that preceded it.Appeared to me in the earlier games the forwards spent more time on their feet,rucking/counter-rucking and mauling;whereas in the Reds-Brumbies clash there was an awful lot of flopping over and palyers losing their feet.This may have had something to do with the apparent chronic dearth of good,front-foot ball.
The intent to use the ball constructively was also sadly lacking.If I had seen this game 1st I might have switched off and missed the other games!
May 27th 2012 @ 9:17am
Who ate all the pies said | May 27th 2012 @ 9:17am | Report comment
It was dour Moaman.
Ilikedahoodoogurusingha – while I can understand the Brumbies’ playing this derby tight their strength this season has been their enterprise and their lack of it last night was telling in the end IMO.
May 27th 2012 @ 4:06pm
ilikedahoodoogurusingha said | May 27th 2012 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
Totally agree with you Pies, but we started the season this way as well, so I am not surprised we reverted to it for this game, especially with an inexperienced 10. It was also confirmed to me last night that it is the game plan to play the kicking strategy……this is from inside the run on squad……..
May 27th 2012 @ 9:46am
Mick said | May 27th 2012 @ 9:46am | Report comment
thyey should have tossed a coin and saved us all the trouble of going out there and freezing our b***s off. I have tried very hard to understand the 50:50 up and unders. Kick it up and hope for a mistake. Just toss a coin and save us all some money.
May 27th 2012 @ 9:53am
Moaman said | May 27th 2012 @ 9:53am | Report comment
Exactly how cold was it Mick?
May 27th 2012 @ 10:15am
Shungmao said | May 27th 2012 @ 10:15am | Report comment
When you have a ref blowing the pea out of the whistle it makes the game turn into a kickathon, clearly both sides were scared to be in their own halves. Walsh needs a couple of weeks on the side lines for his effort or the refs boss to take him down a peg or two .
May 27th 2012 @ 10:33am
ohtani's jacket said | May 27th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
What for? Both the Brumbies and the Reds were lying over the ball. The breakdown was a mess and the game moved from one messy ruck to another.
May 27th 2012 @ 10:46am
Shungmao said | May 27th 2012 @ 10:46am | Report comment
OJ, he didn’t even manage the ruck well, he should of used a yellow to sort it. Walsh should take a video of glen Jackson reffing the earlier a game and take a few pointers on how to manage the contact area. Walsh wasn’t even consistent, his decisions had players looking perplexed half the time. BTW im a Walsh fan but refs need to be held accountable week to week.
May 27th 2012 @ 11:30am
ohtani's jacket said | May 27th 2012 @ 11:30am | Report comment
Walsh didn’t create the ruck situation. I would suggest fingering the blame at White and McKenzie.
May 27th 2012 @ 10:29am
Bearfax said | May 27th 2012 @ 10:29am | Report comment
Good to see the Reds finally threatening for the finals. They may not get there but at least Australia can say its got two competitive teams. The rest have been quite disappointing and one wonders if South Africas fight for a 6th team should not be at the expense of one of the Oz teams. Australian Rugby, despite some excellent top players, seems pretty thin on the ground for depth.Expected I guess given that most potential quality footballers in Oz are playing either Oz Rules or RL. Reduces the options somehat wouldnt you say.
May 27th 2012 @ 10:48am
Shungmao said | May 27th 2012 @ 10:48am | Report comment
The sharks and highlanders wins have hurt us big time!
May 27th 2012 @ 10:31am
allblackfan said | May 27th 2012 @ 10:31am | Report comment
Canberra should seriously consider an indoor stadium.
At last week’s Highlanders-Bulls game in Dunedin, one of the town’s pubs had a cheer squad dressed in bikini tops! (Check in your woolen jackets and gloves at the door, folks!!)
May 27th 2012 @ 4:00pm
Brett McKay said | May 27th 2012 @ 4:00pm | Report comment
It’s a ‘yes’ from me..
I can speak highly of the warming properties of rum, but at nearly a tenner per can, a roof would ultimately be cheaper in the long run…
May 27th 2012 @ 11:23am
stillmissit said | May 27th 2012 @ 11:23am | Report comment
I guess that if this is the cream of Australian rugby Robbie Deans Wallabies are in for a tough time against Wales. How the hell do you get these guys out of this mind set? We used to be the most adventurous team in the world and paid a price some times but were capable of running the ball off small forwards, now we have swung to become like the SA teams of the 90′s kick and lumber it up, stuff it up and go back to the line out.
Genia was excellent as was Morahan, Shipperley was good but where was Ioane, Cooper and several of the others?
The game plans were what I was dreading and they did not disappoint, McKenzie is a turtle (soon as it looks dangerous he pulls his head in) but I thought White would bring something different – but no, kick for field position and then kick it back again.
With injuries to Horwill and a couple of other Wallabies, it doesn’t look encouraging to me. And I had such great hopes.
May 27th 2012 @ 11:31am
ohtani's jacket said | May 27th 2012 @ 11:31am | Report comment
Cooper kicked on from his World Cup form, kicking the ball out on the full and throwing forward passes.
May 27th 2012 @ 6:32pm
Jutsy said | May 27th 2012 @ 6:32pm | Report comment
give it a rest the bloke is playing his 2nd game (first full game) since a serious knee injury, ofcourse he is going to be rusty, if lucas wasnt injured he would have only played 40.
I
May 27th 2012 @ 12:21pm
formeropenside said | May 27th 2012 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
It was great tactics by Link – tell the Brumbies you know their game, then beat them at it, even if it is boring rugby – its a reds away game, so no need to entertain the crowd.
Its just a shame the Brums were not carded for lying all over Gill every chance they got.
May 27th 2012 @ 2:00pm
reds fan said | May 27th 2012 @ 2:00pm | Report comment
yep. gill was obstructed, held back and pinned down all night. well done Brumbies.
May 27th 2012 @ 1:16pm
STU said | May 27th 2012 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
GREAT tactics to win in last minute by 1 point with a reds team full of wallabies.
You would be pleased the kid missed the kick ?LOL
May 27th 2012 @ 4:01pm
Gatesy said | May 27th 2012 @ 4:01pm | Report comment
Hate to admit it, but I think that the Reds were the slightly better team on the night