In a thrilling match, the Blues tied the game up at the death with a penalty kick after the buzzer.
REPORT: REDS DENIED AT THE DEATH
There were great signs for the Reds. The Blues have been very good this year and there are definitely improvements that can be taken out of the game.
The penalty count was in favour of the Reds (7-14), but the Reds really will rue that as an opportunity missed.
Will that crush their confidence going into next week? Well, that remains to be seen.
Good performance from both sides, but the Blues I’m sure will be upset with that performance.
The Reds were ahead by about 10 points at one stage with around 10 minutes left, so it’s a poor result for the Reds, who missed the chance to grab their first win of the season. They just were unable to close the match.
Final score
Reds 25
Blues 25
Suncorp Stadium will play host to a clash between the struggling Reds and resurgent Blues, in a vital clash for both teams. Join The Roar from 7:45pm (AEDT) for live commentary and scores.
The Reds are in dire straits, having drastically changed their administrative and coaching set-up, and registering one point from their first three games.
Additionally, they are without Wallaby representatives Ben Daley (torn pectoral muscle), Kane Douglas and James Slipper.
Other than that, the Reds remained unchanged following their loss to the Rebels last weekend.
Reds co-coaches Nick Stiles and Matt O’Connor were pleased with the effort but acknowledged there’s still work to be done.
“The two things we can address immediately are our discipline and how we start the game,” O’Connor said.
“We decided it was important to stick with the team, as combinations are important.”
In what is a big surprise, Rene Ranger has been completely left out of the Blues side by coach Tana Umaga. Instead, 19-year-old flyer Rieko Ioane will make his debut.
All Black Steven Luatua returns to his favoured number 8 jersey, as Patrick Tuipulotu moves back into the second row, forcing Akira Ioane back to the bench.
The Blues have endured a tough start to their 2016 campaign, with fixtures against the Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes, winning one from three. However, the Reds have only triumphed in one out of their last nine against New Zealand opponents.
Prediction
The Blues will be too powerful across the board.
Blues by 14.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Agree 100%.. in fact didn't know they could play that well! In fact I had nominated Frisby as well for my MOTM...Holmes was also good before replaced.. note I have chosen Reds players.... but in all fairness the Blues had no go forward ball from scrums and West in general play seem to me to kick aimlessly.... just gave away possession so no consideration there. Akira Iaone made a difference, if he played a greater portion of the game my MOTM might have been directed to him.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
ThugbyFan .. sorry mate, the Blues are hard to follow ... Kaino out for a month .. Holmes had a good game while he was on ... MOTM to me was Frisby... I thought he had a great game and McIntyre played his best for the year so far. Our fly half Ihaia West only knows how to kick away possession ... frustrated the hell out of me. Blues game plan was imo wrong... but it was 'simple!' .... shovel the ball along to Reiko Iaone so he can fumble it or run into the Red wall. ... Don't get me wrong, I think he is a huge talent but anyone who praised his debut match was watching a different match, He'll learn though, he is pretty quick and only turned 19 day before the game.
ThugbyFan
Roar Guru
RT, your Blues are giving me the blues in the tipping contest. I tip against them, round 1 against the champs and they win. I like what I see and so tip for them to win in next 3 rounds and bomb out. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Watched the War of the Colours aka the Reds/Blues match on tv, vision was crook as still weeping after the Tahs/Highlanders game :) The Reds monstered their scrums but they ain't Robinson Crusoe there. Reds doing that to everyone. They and Australian rugby will spew when Greg Holmes leaves to get his NH pension money. K.Hunt had a pretty good game but I still think the Reds would be better off if he was at #12. Agree with you on Akira Ioane, what a gun! Lil bro Reiko is damn good also but needs to learn to catch under pressure. Any news on the shoulder (I think) of J.Kaino?
Nathan Farebrother
Roar Guru
I wish i did so the Brumbies could get something out of the Stormer's game! ;)
Nathan Farebrother
Roar Guru
Sorry for late reply RobC! But for me, I think my MoTM would have to go to Frisby. He played really well, and his vision to kick the ball downfield and chase, when there wasn't much on, put the Reds continually in good positions. McIntyre I don't think played half bad either, good showing by the Reds halves!
RobC
Roar Guru
19 Sep 2015
Taylorman
Guest
What? With the Blues luck, inability to win a trick, win away and with a man down? If there's was ever a right call in the history of this game to go for a draw, that was it. Geez. They might be poor but sure glad you aren't making the calls. A try attempt had failure written all over it. In neon lights fifty feet high.
Zero Gain
Guest
Agreed. Would have meant a winner and a loser. Very weak and will send a strong message to his team.
Tycoch
Guest
Referee was awful. Why no penalty try? If he had not been interfered with he would probably have scored. Ref awarded penalty but bottled it. Also some of his scrum rulings were bizarre.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Nah no worries about the result mate, I went with a staunch Reds supporter and thought for sure one of us was not going to be happy with the result .... so in terms of that I suppose a draw was appropriate. They say that there were 15,000 people there ... it looked a lot less to me
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
The other issue is the inability of the Blues to take the high ball whenever contested Reiko Iaone was a repeat offender here ... I would have thought the Reds would have sent more his way... Reiko who created West's try in the first half was generally well marked, rarely getting a chance to use his twinkle toes or his speed.
RobC
Roar Guru
cheers RT. Sorry about the result mate. Seems your reservations early had wisdom. Tough calls on the scrum, but it seemed the Blues were walking in, and in the past Lees was widely criticised for falling for this move last year. He should have been more articulate with the Blues. Was edge of the seat tries by the Reds, passes pulling off. Kick chase try. The 108kg twins (Samu and Nebuli) doing the deed Frisby looked good, I think he will be a WB. But as Ethan mentioned he needs to create urgency to improve cycle time. I thought the Blues, like the Tahs, are able to win collisions and gainline. Some soft TOs in the Reds redzone were costly.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Rob, it appeared to me that the Blues made most of the play, but poor handling and poor decision making cost them a few 5 pointers. The Reds made the most of their opportunities and defended well. A brilliant try was scored in the second half by Kerevi, made for him by Nabuli who broke the tackle I think of Male Sa'u. West, IMO had an average game several of his in play kicks were to long or too ill directed so few were contested. I feel that the Blues got their game plan wrong, it seemed that they were using Reiko Ioane to try and break the line time and again with little success, In fact they seemed to be using his as a 'battering ram' half the time ... if they wanted to play the game that way then Rene Ranger should not have been rested. The Blues scrum must of had some major deficiencies - I don't know what they were but they must of been penalised at least6-7 times for what was coming up on the big screens as 'illegal engagement', whatever that means .. this was in both halves. Not sure why ref did not apply YC earlier if that was the case. At 25-15 , the Reds should have closed the game out but they almost lost the game on full time.. Akiri Iaone, I though made a difference when he came on. MOTM for me was Frisby. MacIntyre had a much better game than had been the case in the earlier rounds. Now home and about to watch a replay!!
RobC
Roar Guru
Post match press con: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDQIiQLHvsw
RobC
Roar Guru
100%. And what set that up was the wrap by Frisby and long dummy run by K. Naturally if that fubared and TOd, it would have been a long range try by the Blues.
RobC
Roar Guru
Blues started and ended well enough to win: - Disrupted the Reds lineout. - They will feel aggrieved with some of the scrum calls. - What about Akira? Awesome player. Reds. All tries from outside the Blues redzone: - K is getting more and more special. His involvement in two tries are subtle yet important - managed their discipline and D esp against such a powerful team - Kick chase probably their best.. since the 90s? - Defence from the league imports are superior and saved the Reds - Watching 108kg Nebuli with Samu K, or the halves and backrowers. MORE PLEASE Blues' Matt McGahan should have been carded for his soccer dive at 68'
ethan
Guest
Frisby's kicks were actually pretty decent. The biggest downside to his game is slow delivery at the ruck. Everything else he was excellent at tonight. I'd also throw in Fa'agese for outpointing Faumuina in the scrums - the whole front row really were very good. Best game we've seen from Nabuli as well.
RobC
Roar Guru
Dave, I think the kicks did the job. 2x kicks than the Blues. First try from a Mac bomb. Second from a Frisby kick that forced a scrum leading to a Nebuli / Samu K try.
Dunners
Guest
Weak call at the death, Blues coach should have backed the team to deliver the winning try.... taking the penalty goal was weak! I totally give up on the Blues. Reds were ripe for the picking, but no go from the Blues. They need to rotate team members down to Dunedin, to absorb what it is to be a successful individual and a team.
Dave_S
Guest
Yep and Frisby gets the encouragement award, big improvement, even better if he shelves the box kick.