Beale, Rodda shine on Super Rugby return as Force smash Crusaders to keep finals hopes alive
As the Crusaders’ season went from bad to worse, Kurtley Beale and Izack Rodda made bright returns to Super Rugby to help the Force…
Acting Queensland Reds skipper Rob Simmons has told his teammates their discipline must improve after last night’s 31-3 drubbing to the Crusaders in the pre-season trial at Ballymore.
Simmons, the acting captain while James Slipper recovers from shoulder surgery, took his side into the interval with a three-point advantage, but after changes from both teams in the second half, the visiting New Zealand side ran rampant.
Although insisting the score was not important in the friendly match, Simmons feels there are lessons that must be learnt.
“The scoreboard’s a bit irrelevant for what the goal was out of tonight,” Simmons said.
“We wanted to get a few combinations and do a few things we’ve been working on in practice, which we probably didn’t get to because of the scoreboard.
“There was plenty of intensity and scramble, but we need to get our play shape.
“The discipline slipped at the end of both halves really. It’s something were working at.”
Simmons did praise Jake McIntyre, who seems to have the inside run to replace Quade Cooper as the Reds No.10, and showed some flashes of his predecessors flair, especially in the first 20 minutes.
“I thought he controlled the game really well,” Simmons said.
“He got the forwards in the game well and knew what he was doing.
“We didn’t get passed three phases too much, so it’s hard to know what’s going on.
“Hopefully everyone can take one thing from the game and get better at it.”
The Reds continue their build-up to the Super Rugby season opener at the NSW Waratahs on February 27 with another home trial at Ballymore against the ACT Brumbies on Friday.
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