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Vern Cotter’s Blues have broken the hearts of the Queensland Reds by scoring after the final siren to seal an epic come-from-behind win in Brisbane on Saturday night.
The Reds looked like they would pull off one of the upsets of the season when 20-year-old rising star Tim Ryan ran away to score his third try to open up an 11-point lead after 64 minutes.
But the Blues, who have brought a harder and more ruthless edge under former Scotland and Fiji coach Cotter, scored three tries in the final 11 minutes, including the winner to replacement halfback Sam Nock in the 82nd minute, to leave the Reds shattered.
The Blues celebrate the match winning try scored by Sam Nock to break Queensland Reds hearts at Suncorp Stadium on April 27, 2024. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
“That’s a heartbreaking way to lose it,” Reds skipper Liam Wright said.
“I’m really proud of the effort.
“I thought the Blues played a really tough game, it was attritional. They did a great job of condensing us in the middle and finding space down the edges, which is what they did in the last two tries, but I thought our guys was fantastic.
“I just told the guys I thought they did the jersey justice and the occasion justice.”
After “expecting” to smash the Brumbies last week, Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu acknowledged the fine display from the Reds following the late winner.
“We’ve got to respect the Reds and how well and quick they came back in that second half,” he said.
“They scored some pretty crucial tries and put us on the back foot. It was tough being put under the sticks quite a bit.”
His deputy Dalton Papali’i added to those words from his captain by saying the Blues were out on their feet and lost for answers at times.
“It’s sort of hard, you try and put it into perspective, the huddles were harder than usual because, I’ll be honest, we haven’t had many games like that,” the All Blacks back-rower said.
“It was pretty new to us. The good thing is our leaders stood up. Patty took the reins. Those are the games you really cherish and learn from.
“Hats off to the Reds side, they threw the kitchen sink and it could have gone either way.”
Reds coach Les Kiss was left to rue another one that got away.
After going down to ladder-leaders, the Hurricanes, in golden point in round two, the Reds looked like going to extra time for another clash against the second placed Blues side. That was until Nock’s late winner, which came off the back of an error from replacement loose-forward Joe Brial.
“It’s happened against the two top teams in the comp now, the ‘Canes and the Blues,” Kiss said.
“Look, we’re getting closer aren’t we but we’ve just got to find a way to knock them off.
“I’m very proud of what they delivered tonight. We went hammer and tong, we imposed our game on them. Nearly is not good enough but they did well.”
Just hours after the Brumbies delivered their best performance of the year by holding off the Hurricanes in Canberra, the Reds too stepped up their physicality at the right time.
Although the Blues won the set-piece battle, particularly at the scrum, the Reds refused to go away.
Wright led the way, with the back-rower once again stepping up in front of the Wallabies’ coaching team, by making 23 tackles and being a constant presence at the breakdown. It was a Test match performance.
He was well supported by prop Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, lock Ryan Smith, who also made 23 tackles, as well as No.8 Harry Wilson who made 21 tackles to go along with his 16 carries – the most from either side.
The strong effort allowed the Reds’ backline, led by Hunter Paisami, to squeeze the Blues.
Tim Ryan scored a stunning hat-trick against the Blues at Suncorp Stadium. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
After Ryan’s brazen chip kick early in the first half, Paisami followed his young teammate’s lead by pulling off an even better effort as he regathered before finding his winger to send him away to score.
Ultimately though, it wasn’t enough as the Blues found a way to win.
“Obviously devastated, man,” new recruit Toomaga-Allen said.
“You work so hard off the back of a good game last week, but when you come up against a class outfit you’ve got to play the whole game. It was a full 80-minute game and the Blues played phenomenally until the end.
“They’ve got some big ball carriers. you’ve got to front up or get bowled, and we didn’t want to get bowled, so hopefully it showed out there. We really tried to not just match them, but out match them, but it’s a game of winning and losing and we lost.”
The Reds should have taken the early lead after Suliasi Vunivalu managed to come down with the ball from a clever box kick from Kalani Thomas, but replays showed the maligned winger dropped it when he went to put the ball down with one hand.
It proved to be a costly mistake as the Blues scores two tries in six minutes to open up a 10-0 lead as Tuipulotu and Cole Forbes scored.
Toomaga-Allen scored in tight to reduce the deficit to three, before Harry Plummer, who earlier had missed a penalty and two conversion attempts, managed to finally knock one over as the ball went through the posts off the cross-bar.
After Vunivalu managed to get under Hoskins Sotutu, Ryan, who had earlier announced himself with a brazen though successful chip kick deep in his own half, showed off his clean pair of heels by sprinting in to score after Paisami’s lovely chip and chase.
Angus Ta’avao hit back for the Blues to help the Blues grab back the lead, before Ryan scored off a lineout movement to put the hosts back in front.
Four minutes later and Ryan did it again, turning several Blues defenders inside-out to score an incredible hat-trick inside 15 minutes.
But then the tide turned quickly as Sotutu scored in tight to close the margin to four points.
The Reds decided to bank three points via Lawson Creighton in the 73rd minute to give them a converted try lead. Ultimately, it didn’t prove enough as Eklund and Nock scored two tries in six minutes to crush the home side’s spirit.
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.