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The Queensland Reds have beaten the Bulls from South Africa 20 to 14 in a tense match up in Brisbane.
It was always going to be a tight one between these two as they seemed quite evenly matched both in terms of personnel and form.
To begin with though the Bulls looked like they might have a bit more class as they pulled ahead with two tries in the first 25 minutes while the Reds could only manage a penalty from Lance.
For the first 35 minutes the Bulls looked to be in control both in defence and attack. Their defence especially was impressive – their line rushed up fast time after time and the pressure was telling on the Reds. When they did have the ball they couldn’t make any ground at all and never really threatened.
But the Reds got a key try just before halftime as they were able to break down the left-hand side and Timu squeezed through to score a critical score. This made it 10-14 at the break and the Reds were back in it.
The first score of the second half was always going to be important and it came quickly for the Reds as Toua finished off a lovely break in the loose from the debutant Nabuli.
From this point forwards it was all Reds. At about the 55 minute mark they had over 90% of territory and possession and it felt like just a matter of time until they turned this into points.
But to be fair to the Bulls their defence stayed strong and wave after wave of Reds attack came to nothing.
It took the Reds until the 76th minute to add more points as they finally said yes to a kick at goal and stretched their lead to six points.
The Bulls had a couple more attacks to try and score the required converted try but to be honest they never really looked like scoring and eventually the spilled the ball up and the Reds had the win.
There were almost two different Bull’s sides in this game. The one from the first half looked dangerous in attack and keen to run with the ball in hand. The one in the second half however seemed out of ideas and continuity.
They had to defend a lot and to be fair they did that very well but when they did get the ball back they either kicked it away poorly or ran with it ineffectively.
It was a great battle in the scrum with both sides fighting hard and winning the battle at different times. In the end though a lot of credit has to go to the relatively young and inexperienced Reds pack. They stood up very well against the big Bulls forwards and several times really tore them to pieces.
This win will give the Reds a lot of confidence in different areas. They were behind at half time and yet fought back to win. They had a slender lead that could have been overturned at any point but they held on well.
Their pack really performed well and some of their backs showed some great attacking skills including Lance who made some lovely runs at the right time. They are definitely a work in progress and won’t trouble the better teams but there’s plenty to be excited about.
The Bulls meanwhile will feel that this was an opportunity missed. They could have won this game and a win on the road is always valuable but they’ve let it slip.
No alarm bells yet for them but they need to make sure that this tour doesn’t go the same way as the Stormers where a good first match turns into a narrow loss and a winless tour.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.