The distinct possibility of Quade Cooper copping a holiday for his high tackle on Berrick Barnes took a lot of the gloss off the Reds topping the Australian conference with a 32-16 defeat of the Waratahs at Suncorp.
Cooper was white carded, yellow carded and cited as Barnes’ tournament ended in Disneyland.
And the Waratahs completed their worst season in the state’s famous history with just four wins and 12 losses, the last eight in succession, both records.
A vastly different story for the Reds, with Will Genia’s inspiring leadership turning his side around after a rather ordinary first half with a 12-11 lead, and two tries knowing they had to score four tries to qualify.
In the first 17 minutes of the second half, the Reds piled on 17 unanswered points with positive rugby, aided and abetted by three glaring Waratah errors that each led to tries, stretching their lead to 29-11 and it was all over bar the handshakes.
Full credit to the defending champions for overcoming an horrific period in weeks 5, 6, 7, when they were flogged 61-8 by the Bulls at Loftus and 45-10 by the Force at Perth, giving up 13 tries and scoring only four.
And when they were beaten 29-25 by the Sharks at Suncorp, it was the first time in three years the Reds had lost three on the trot.
On the other side of the coin, the real story was the inexplicable collapse of the Brumbies, beaten 30-16 by the lowly Blues in Canberra.
“We went away from our game plan from the kick-off, giving away 14 points in 11 minutes. Everything we planned went out the window,” explained a bitterly disappointed coach Jake White.
They went into the final round with a five-point lead over the Reds, but came away without posting a tournament point. As a result both the Reds and Brumbies finished on 58 points, with the top honour going to the Reds with 11 wins to the Brumbies 10.
What a time for coach White, and skipper Ben Mowen, for the Brumbies to turn in their only poor performance of the season when it counted the most. White and Mowen have combined so well in their first year at the franchise, they deserved a far fairer fate.
But what’s fair, and what’s fact, don’t often sit at the same table.
Having said that, nothing can be taken away from the Auckland Blues. They completely outplayed and out-thought the Brumbies to claim only their fourth win of the season, including the last two rounds against the Force and Brumbies.
So the regular season is done-and-dusted, with the conference winners, and automatic finals series qualifiers:
South Africa – the Stormers on 66.
New Zealand – the Chiefs – 64.
And Australia – the Reds – 58.
The three next best performed of the remaining 12 franchises to make up the finals series of six – the wild cards:
Crusaders – 61.
Bulls – 59.
Sharks – 59.
So close:
Brumbies – 58.
Hurricanes – 57.
Next weekend, the two top qualifying Stormers and the Chiefs will enjoy a bye while the Reds meet the Sharks at Suncorp, and the Crusaders clash with the Bulls at Christchurch – both sudden death.
Two huge bonuses for the Australasian teams, forcing the South Africans to travel.
In the semis, the Stormers will meet the winner of the Reds and Sharks. The Chiefs will do battle with the winner of the Crusaders-Bulls match.
The 2012 Super Rugby championship final will be between the two winners of the semis at the home ground of the franchise with the most tournament points after the regular season.
The Crusaders will be the team to beat, seeking a record eighth Super crown.
Jutsie
Guest
WQ think he is defending at 10 under instructions from deans. Playing him at 15 during a defence was a huge error at the RWC as he failed the high ball test that the boks and ab's applied and it also robbed the wallabies of counter attacking prowess that beale possesses (cooper maybe a good counter attack option at 15 but beale is brilliant). If he wants to reclaim the test no.10 jersey he has to prove he can hold his own in the 10 channell.
WQ
Guest
He's dangerous at any time but I think at the present he is trying to create things as opposed to taking advantage of what is in front of him. I know that sounds like an oxymoron however I think it is typical of players out of form or down on confidence, same thing really. The other thing that I am not sure works for Quade is tackling in the front line, this does not allow him the broken play running that he is very very good at. I still think he is a fullback! Anyway, I see that Patrick Lambie is not coming to Brisbane which lifts the potential of a win so who knows?
SamClench
Roar Pro
You have to think that the Reds would struggle without Cooper. Their resurgence earlier this season coincided pretty closely with his return to the team. Better hope he's available!
Cattledog
Roar Guru
:)
Cattledog
Roar Guru
Yep, that's how I see it as well, Suzy. It's a long bow but not outside the realms of possibility :)
Cattledog
Roar Guru
LOL :)
Suzy Poison
Guest
It is possible that the Reds play the Crusaders in repeat of last year's final in Suncorp. But a lot of results have to go their way, for this to happen. For this to happen, Four things must occur: 1. Reds must first beat Sharks. Reds are favourites here. This is very possible, but not a foregone conclusion, given Quade's possible suspension. 2. Crusaders must first beat Bulls. Highly likely, given Crusaders record in finals and that they are playing at home. 3. The Reds will then have to beat the Chiefs in New Zealand. The Chiefs would be strong favourites to win this. 4. The Crusaders have to beat the Stormers in Cape Town. This is 50%-50% call. The Crusaders won in New Zealand earlier this year, but the Stormers are unbeaten in Cape Town, this year. If The Stormers win, even if the Reds produce a massive upset and beat the Chiefs in New Zealand, the Reds will then have to travel to Cape Town. Statistically the percentage of home team semi and final wins is about 90%. The Crusaders are the only team, that challenges this stat, but even their record in South Africa is poor. For the Reds to play the Crusaders in Suncorp, there need to be not one but two away team wins, this is why I say the odds are stacked against the Reds, but then I predicted like everyone else that the Reds would get knocked out, last weekend. The Reds keep proving me wrong!
MR
Guest
Think I need to change my tag- there seems to be two of me running around & one of me is a tad rude.
Cattledog
Roar Guru
Also, that poor excuse for a TMO in the Chiefs Canes match thought he was doing NZ a favour! LOL
Cattledog
Roar Guru
The fact of the matter is, Stillmatic1, the vast majority of Kiwi posts have been derogatory of the Reds and the Aussie conference in general. Sure, it's the weakest conference but the Reds had to work as hard as any other team in the top 6 to get there. That game against the Waratahs, a team loaded with Wallabies was in no way a given. In fact, a win may have been on the cards but a 4 try bonus was at long odds. So, if you believe he's right on two counts, then you're also in denial. If you didn't have Lawrence refereeing the Crusaders Reds match, the whole final 6 may have been extremely different. So, the Crusaders got the same 'leg up' if you like that the Reds got by the Blues beating the Brumbies. It's called carma.
Xiedazhou
Guest
Nice try Stillmanic (sic). He appears by video link from Bris, with Davidson from Christchurch calling the shots. Why try to hide the facts if you have nothing to hide? Back to your Hobbit Island please.
Xiedazhou
Guest
Yes Aaron. very proud of the Reds. Defending Champions, and back into the finals on the back of 6 straight wins. And very good record against the Kiwi teams over the last couple of years. Quite dominant in fact.
stillmatic1
Guest
but the judgment will be from an aussie from brisbane!! but nice try, xiedazhou. go back to your cave.
stillmatic1
Guest
well in jarmens defence, cdog, not many people were picking the tahs to win v the reds now were they? the brumbies had to fall over to make it easy for the reds, and that happened. so he is right on 2 counts. why so defensive? dont you often criticise others for that? what makes you assume people are worried about the reds supposed "form", but not that the reds got a bit of help to get to the finals? cdog, does home ground advantage mean anything these days? or is it just a myth?
Cattledog
Roar Guru
Jarmen, you really are a slow learner. 'The Reds were always going to beat the Waratahs'. That comment is based on what, that they did win? '...other results went their way'. What results, the Blues beating the Brumbies? Why not attempt to gain some credibility by not posting such rubbish posts.
Cattledog
Roar Guru
Suzy, like you, I'm a little confused about the home final scenario. You say the final won't be played at Suncorp. If, for example, the final is between the Reds and either 4 or 5 (Bulls or Crusaders), where is the final played? Wouldn't it be played at Suncorp?
Sprigs
Guest
If the rugby union establishment is seriously worried about dangerous activity, why do they allow giant video shots of fights to promote the game? Before the Reds v Waratah's game on Saturday, there was a whole segment of fights on the big video screens at both ends of the ground.
Jarmen
Guest
I would say the Reds owe a lot to the Blues who thumped their biggest rival the Brumbies. The Reds were always going to beat the Waratahs. The Reds didn't fight back other results went their way.
Suzy Poison
Guest
Make no mistake, I do respect the Reds, because on song, they can upset any team. And I also think they have to be favourites at home against the Sharks. The Reds really looked like the champion team of last year, when they beat the Chiefs. That was a great victory, and fired up the self-belief, after it took a huge knock on tour. But once again, that was at Suncorp. Away from Suncorp and the Reds have not set the world alight. Fact is, the Reds, based on the ladder, are the weakest team, in the final six. The Reds have lost against four of the other top six teams, The Stormers, Crusaders, Bulls and Sharks. Also you have to be realistic, the fact that the final won’t be played at Suncorp, will severely limit the Reds chance of defending of their title. Still you have to commend the Reds for fighting back from being down and out, and going all the way to winning the Conference.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
cattledog, I agree with you. It shouldn't matter who was on the receiving end however the fact it was Barnes will ensure Cooper is likely rubbed out this week.