Veteran George Smith could not have wished for a better way to cap his 150th super rugby appearance, scoring a try and helping the Queensland Reds end a six-match losing streak as they overran the Kings at Suncorp Stadium.
The Reds beat their South African opponents 47-34 for their second win of the season, giving them some form to take in to the second half of the campaign after next week’s bye.
Smith forced three early turnovers to give the Reds momentum in the first half, but they were pegged back to 14-10 at the interval.
The veteran burst through early in the second half to lift his side to a comfortable lead before a late Kings fightback briefly made life nervous for the 11,336 Reds fans.
“I enjoyed that, we had the right intention from the first kick,” Smith said.
“A number of points were left out there in first half.
“This gives us confidence in our attack, if we keep the ball in hand we’re able to score tries.
“We’ve just got to put the complete performance together.”
Eto Nabuli, Karmichael Hunt and Izaia Perese scored two tries each for the Reds while Makazole Mapimpi (two), Chris Cloete, Louis Schreuder, and Masixole Bande went over for the Kings.
The Reds took the lead after six minutes when, after winning a scrum against the feed, the ball was fed to Nabuli to dive over in the corner.
The Kings replied with a try to Cloete before Hunt dived over from close range to restore the Reds’ lead 11 minutes before the break.
Reds coach Nick Stiles was an unhappy man at the interval, though, due to the Reds spurning numerous chances with sloppy handling leading to 16 turnovers.
“It was a team issue we needed to hold onto the ball in the carry,” Stiles said.
“We sat down as a group and I spoke about being disciplined and patient with the ball in hand.”
Three minutes after the restart, Stiles had his response when milestone man Smith received a lineout from Rob Simmons and cut through the Kings defence before exchanging passes with Scott Higginbotham to get over the line at the second attempt.
Five minutes later, Hendrik Tui bundled over Penxe before passing the ball to Nabuli who raced over untouched for a try.
Schreuder then dived over from close range for the Kings in the 51st minute but it was a brief respite as Reds fullback Hunt collected Cooper’s kick three minutes later and raced under the posts for another five pointer.
Cooper’s successful conversion saw him break the 800-point mark in Super Rugby, making him the third Australian to do so after Stirling Mortlock and Matt Burke.
Perese scored his first try in Super Rugby when Hunt took on James Tuttle’s wide pass and drew the last man before feeding the young winger.
Three minutes later Perese had his second after Hunt collected Cooper’s cross-field penalty from inside his own 22 and ran to the halfway line before feeding the Reds’ No.14 to run untouched under the posts.
This was not the end of the scoring as three tries in eight minutes made the scoreline respectable for the visitors.
The Kings remain rooted to the bottom of the Africa 2 standings with just one win from seven games.
Marto
Guest
TWAS, Our problem was from the bench in the last 20.. .They look unfit made errors and had no impact.. The reserves gifted them 3 tries .I was there 20 meteres away, we should have scored an 8th try but Ready overthrew the ball straight into the Kings flyhalf arms 5 meteres out on an attacking lineout...FFS !!! . .It could have been 52-17 with a kick to come right there.. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH !!!! Basic stuff, throw short Ready you have just come on mate..
Marto
Guest
Johnny J-Dog I feel the same as you mate , but i will reserve judgement until i see how we go against our conferance in the next 7 weeks .. We wont beat the Blues ( A) Chiefs ( A) Highlanders ( A) in between those other games.. I just want us to show up against our fellow Ozzie teams . TAHS ( H ) REBELS ( A ) FORCE ( H ) BRUMBIES ( H ) first before making a decision on our season memeberships...
DOUBLES
Guest
We were there section 331 row 25 Seats 6 and 7 .. Great game in front of 11336 diehards .Frisbee being subbed on made for a nervous last 15 mins ...
Zero Gain
Guest
Yes, was a little disappointing. I wanted to enjoy my last (very expensive) Suncorp beer without stress. You know, that feeling, elusive for an Australian rugby supporter, that you can't possibly lose. On a positive note, QC was good and they recorded their second win over SA teams.
Adsa
Guest
The Reds give me the blues TM, so we are nearly there.
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Yeah Reds right now aren't quite there. But you never know the Reds in 2010 were hit and miss too until they began to gel about halfway through the season.
taylorman
Guest
Careful, you'll end up with the Blues?
Rhys Bosley
Guest
Hmmm ....
Train Without A Station
Guest
Certainly annoying but if we'd focused more on just defending they wouldn't have been tries. We even had a 1 man advantage for 10 mins. Just took our foot off the pedal massively. Not professional enough.
cinque
Roar Rookie
Hope this passes the political correctness test ... Anyway, I think the way forward for the Reds is to embrace the islander option. Many of the anglos in the squad - Moore, Frisby, Slipper, Douglas, Simmons - are either past it, out of form or injured. The team that played on Friday had that youthful, physical, Islander feel about it. Okay George Smith not so young. The warmer climate is a natural fit. This is starting to sound a bit racist isn't it? We'll see ...
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Agree. They went to sleep in that last quarter and lost a bonus point. Annoying that two of the last three tries to the Kings came from blatant forward passes. The officiating wasn't good especially since the Kings may well have been playing to stay in SR.
puff
Guest
Apart from George Smith’s 150th anniversary there was precious little more to excite. The Kings displayed some grit in the second stanza and the Reds started going through the motions, perhaps overlooking the contest still had 20 minutes to run. But with the Brumbies not looking that special in Melb, the OZ conference is starting to look very weather beaten.
AJ
Guest
A win is a win and some good moments but terrible skills and defence from the Reds speaks volumes about their position on the table. Kerevi defence and passing had us holding our heads in exasperation. Some blokes were lucky to get away with stuff that's brought cards in previous games so that hasn't improved. Bonus point gone begging not that there's much chance for the Reds.
Train Without A Station
Guest
Disappointing that we didn't maintain the dominance through the last 20. Should have finished the game closer to a 60-20 score line.
Johnny J-Dog
Guest
I won't be joining Reds again next season. Not worth it.
Racing Chicken Trainer
Roar Rookie
Didn't get a chance to watch it, so how was Kerevi as a captain?
RubberLegs
Guest
Great night of rugby for the handful at Lang park. Mapimpi is looking for a job next year... The Reds should start the bidding. Red's backline defense still needs a lot of work.