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Second-half stunner powers Maroons to Origin Game 1 upset win

4th November, 2020
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4th November, 2020
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Queensland have recovered from a 10-0 half time deficit, putting three unanswered tries in the second half past New South Wales to claim a thrilling 18-14 win in the first game of the 2020 State of Origin series.

Things couldn’t have started any worse for the Blues, with Damien Cook knocking on the opening kick-off to give Queensland prime field position early.

But the Blues were able to defend their line stoutly and quickly go up the other way. Josh Addo-Carr threatened the line first, but was forced into touch on his diving effort to the corner.

The entertaining start continued with Queensland breaking down the right wing and, although Cook was able to defuse Xavier Coates’ kick, he ran into the ingoal to evade tacklers and was brought down, giving the Maroons the ball back in their attacking half.

The Maroons looked odds-on to nab the first points of the half, but Daly Cherry-Evans missed a fairly simple penalty kick to keep scores level early. But despite entering the match as massive outsiders, it was Queensland who looked the better early. They had two thirds of the possession at the 15-minute mark of the game and had threatened the Blues line often.

The first try eventually came in the 15th minute, with first-half villain Cook catching a ricocheted rebound off his own fifth-tackle kick to cross. Despite looking jittery in the early goings, the Blues soon found rhythm and were over the line again when Addo-Carr crossed in the corner to make it 10-0.

From there, the Blues established a foothold in the Queensland half of the ground and would have had a third through Daniel Tupou if not for a great tackle at the death by Dane Gagai.

But some strong Maroons defending saw the ‘visitors’ forced to settle for a 10-0 lead heading into the sheds.

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After a tepid beginning to the second half, it was the underdogs who got on the board first. Kurt Capewell brushed Clint Gutherson aside a bit too easily on the left wing, breaking free and then sending an excellent kick to the advantage of AJ Brimson. The fullback pounced and finished off a one-handed put-down to get the Maroons back into it.

The Maroons took the lead soon after, with Origin specialist Dane Gagai getting around Jack Wighton before going on a barnstorming run – eventually passing to Xavier Coates, who crossed in the corner.

Absolutely brilliant field kicking was the difference in the second half, with Cameron Munster sending the ball to all the right spots by boot for the Maroons. The Blues, by comparison, struggled to kick the ball into dangerous areas and looked completely flat with the ball in hand.

Kurt Capewell intercepted an errant NSW pass close to the 40m line and would’ve been off to the races, if not for a desperate ankle tap. Things continued to unravel for New South Wales from there too. Despite Daniel Saifiti intercepting an errant Dane Gagai pass in defensive territory, the Blues gave it back through a bad offload attempt by Tupou. Munster toed the ball clear of the scrambling defenders before narrowly evading the clutches of Cook to put the Maroons further ahead.

The Blues finally came to life in the 72nd minute when Addo-Carr was released down the right wing, but he knocked on attempting to chase his own kick and then insisted his side challenge the call – which proved fruitless.

But the match wasn’t quite done yet. New South Wales got their first set of six starting inside Queensland territory for the half and they took full advantage. Cody Walker released his teammates down the right wing – sucking in Phillip Sami – before Addo-Carr finished it off with his second try just inside the corner.

They tried to do too much on the next set, however, with Walker throwing an unnecessary offload to the Addo-Carr close to the touchline after they’d made good ground and the Maroons defence forcing him over.

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A forward pass deep in attack from Queensland gifted the Blues another set – and they were gifted another inside Maroons territory after an apparent missed pass was deemed to have come off a defender’s hand.

Their last set fell short, however, but not without controversy. James Tedesco was covered by several Maroons players on the last tackle of the game, with referee Gerard Sutton very quick to blow the full time whistle on the play-the-ball.

State of Origin, Game 1 2020 result

Queensland Maroons – 18
NSW Blues – 14

Tries
Maroons: Brimson 51′, Coates 56′, Munster 67′
Blues: Cook 15′, Addo-Carr 22′, 76′

Goals
Maroons: Cherry-Evans 3/4, 51′, 56′, 67′
Blues: Cleary 1/3, 16′

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