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They made hard work of it, but Les Kiss’ Queensland Reds did enough to overturn a 10-point deficit and seal a 26-22 win over the Melbourne Rebels in Brisbane on Friday night.
The win however came at a cost, with star No.8 Harry Wilson likely to miss the rest of the Super Rugby season.
After a sleepy first-half, the Reds trailed 15-5 at half-time but scored three unanswered converted tries to open a 26-15 lead after 63 minutes.
But a try to replacement loose forward Maciu Nabolakasi and Carter Gordon’s conversion saw the Rebels close the deficit to four points in the 72nd minute.
The Reds then defended their line for 14 phases before prop Cabous Eloff was deemed to have knocked the ball on inside the home side’s attacking 22 metre line.
“There was a lot of fight tonight and sometimes you’ve got to win ugly,” said Reds co-captain Tate McDermott, who came off the bench and helped lift his side’s tempo.
“It was pretty ugly but we’ll take it and move on.”
Jeffery Toomaga-Allen celebrates the Reds’ come-from-behind win over the Rebels at Suncorp Stadium on May 10, 2024. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
While the Reds were a completely different side in the second half, the match swung further in favour of the home side when Rebels hooker Jordan Uelese was forced off temporarily after a head knock in the 58th minute.
At the time, the Rebels lead 15-12. When the Test hooker returned 15 minutes later, the Rebels trailed 26-15 after being forced to shift regular tight-head prop Sam Talakai to cover at hooker after Alex Mafi suffered an injury in the warm-up.
The unfortunate blow came after Taniela Tupou lasted just nine minutes against his former side before suffering a concussion. The concussion means World Cup Wallaby Pone Fa’amausili is likely to be called back from the Waratahs a week after being loaned to the NSW side.
The Reds suffered an injury blow themselves, with Wilson copping a broken arm in the second-half.
“He’s gone to hospital to double check it,” Kiss said.
He later, added: “We’ll see what they say. Perhaps it’s surgery.”
Should that happen it’ll be a massive blow to Wilson’s hopes of catching Schmidt’s eye ahead of next year’s Lions series, with the 24-year-old slipping down the pecking order in recent years having played ten of 12 Tests ahead of the 2022 season.
Outside centre Josh Flook finished the match smiling, but the former Australian Schoolboys captain was floored a couple of times by makeshift centre Nick Jooste.
“I got nailed a couple of times,” he quipped. “I said to Joostie, ‘I haven’t been hit that hard for a very long time.’ Credit to him, he came out of the line and got me.”
Harry Wilson broke his arm during the Reds’ four-point win over the Rebels at Suncorp Stadium on May 10, 2024. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Flook was one of the Reds’ best and his second-half charge through the middle of the field set the tone for the home side’s much-improved showing.
Before then the Rebels dominated the collision area of the match, with their forwards and backs going to work against the great movers of Australian rugby in 2024.
Uelese was strong on both sides of the ball, Josh Canham was a pest at the lineout and on the floor and the entire back-tow of Josh Kemeny, Vaiolini Ekuasi and Tuaina Taii Tualima were superb.
But it was Filipo Daugunu who shone brightest, with the outside centre getting on the ball to win breakdown penalties and sending teammates into score, too.
Indeed, they were the keys to the Rebels’ 15-5 half-time lead as the visitors forced the Reds into giving away several penalties through the pressure they exerted, including when Daugunu put Andrew Kellaway into score and Hunter Paisami was shown a yellow card for a high shot.
Yet, as Paisami started to grow into the match so did the Reds, with the home side scoring three tries in eight minutes to come storming back into the contest.
They did it in baby steps, with Fraser McReight following the lead of Matt Faessler in the first half by scoring off the back of a rolling maul in the 55th minute.
Then Jock Campbell reminded Joe Schmidt what he’s capable of in some space as he ran away to score a spectacular long-range try after some lovely quick hands from Paisami and Lawson Creighton.
The Reds then had their third when Paisami ran to the line and split some tired Rebels defence, before linking up with Tim Ryan to send the rising winger away.
“It wasn’t ideal in a lot of minutes in that game but we got the right minutes right,” Kiss told Stan Sport following the four-point win.
“In the second half they came out and showed who they were for the majority of that half and it was enough to get the win.”
Asked about his half-time talk, Kiss said the entire squad recognised they were off the pace.
“I think all the coaches fired them up,” he said.
“I wasn’t pleased but when I asked them the questions, they were the ones that weren’t pleased.
“I wouldn’t say that they were embarrassed but they let Melbourne play a good style of rugby, they were getting on top of us physically, we weren’t finding that energy to come back at them.
“We did take into account last week (the Reds’ first win in Christchurch in 25 years), and we knew it might be a flat spot going into the game but they stayed in it.
“At half-time they made the decision and the choice to come out and be a different team and they did that.”
Rebels front-rower Talakai said his side needed to learn how to close those matches out, having lost three straight matches.
“Proud of the effort, we started really well but then we had a bit of a lull in the second half and the Reds capitalised,” he said. “They’re a good team.
“We’ve got to learn to finish those off.”
Despite their third straight defeat, the Rebels got an important bonus point out of the match, which moved them to 25 competition points and 11 points clear of the ninth-placed Moana Pasifika as they chase their maiden finals berth.
The Reds, meanwhile, consolidated their position in fifth place, moving six points clear of the Rebels on 31 points.
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.