Too classy ... Cooper's Reds out-muscle brave Rebels. Source: Mark Dadswell / AAP
The Rebels suffered more heartbreak on Friday night as they blew a halftime lead for the third straight week to fall to the Reds 23-13 in their Super Rugby clash.
| 1 Tries 2 | |
|---|---|
| Lachlan Mitchell 40' | Ben Tapuai 15' |
| Nick Frisby 41' | |
| 1 Conversions2 | |
| James O'Connor 40' | Quade Cooper 17' |
| Quade Cooper 43' | |
| 2 Penalties3 | |
| James O'Connor 5' | Quade Cooper 3' |
| James O'Connor 29' | Quade Cooper 60' |
| Quade Cooper 79' | |
A late Reds surge secures a hard-fought victory over the Rebels, giving the Queensland outfit a perfect start to the season. Re-live all the action in our interactive Match Centre, featuring video highlights.
Hard-running centre Lachlan Mitchell scored after the halftime siren to hand his side a 13-10 lead at the break but the Reds steamed back to secure their third successive victory and their fifth straight against the Rebels.
Melbourne's only win of the season was in round one against the Force when they trailed at halftime; they also lost when the Brumbies and NSW came from behind.
The Rebels' chance of a late fightback suffered a setback when a penalty kick, about to be taken by Wallabies star James O'Connor, was reversed by Argentine referee Francisco Pastrana on the advice of Television Match Official George Ayoub, who nabbed hooker Ged Robinson for over-vigorous rucking.
The Reds looked to have scored immediately down the other end through fullback Jono Lance, however he somehow failed to get the ball down.
Three missed penalty kicks by stand-in skipper O'Connor also proved crucial and put a dampener on his 50th Super Rugby appearance.
The Reds were quick to put the knife into the Rebels' second-half hopes with halfback Nick Frisby, in his first start in the No.9 jersey, scoring after some good lead-up work by centre Anthony Faingaa, in his first game this season after a hand injury.
Quade Cooper converted from the sideline and then a penalty kick at the 60-minute mark pushed the lead out to 20-10.
With a couple of breaks out wide and some fierce tackling, Rebels No.8 Scott Higginbotham did his best to rally the team in his first outing against his former side.
But the Rebels lost momentum following the Lance no-try.
But they delivered an impressive first half, with Mitchell's try well deserved.
Electing for another scrum five metres from the tryline rather than a penalty shot, the Rebels attacked the line before halfback Nick Phipps found the hard-working O'Connor.
He held the ball up long enough for Mitchell to run the perfect line, scooting between defenders to touch down.
Queensland's first-half try was scored by centre Ben Tapaui.
A penalty kick by Cooper with just over a minute remaining compounded the misery for the Rebels, who missed out on a bonus point for finishing within seven points.
Reds skipper James Slipper said he asked the referee to go to the TMO because he saw flying boots and the distressed reaction of his teammate Albert Anae.
He wasn't aware at the time that the TMO could recommend the penalty be reversed.
While that one went their way, director of coaching Ewen McKenzie was furious with the steady penalty count against his team, although the final total was 10-8.
"It's pretty hard to play when we were getting penalised in attack and defence,'' he said.
McKenzie said his side didn't try to get a bonus-point fourth try and focused on simply winning the game.
"At one stage, it was 10-2,'' he said of the penalties.
"We played maybe 20 phases at the end of the game in the attacking quarter and we still got penalised.''
Rebels captain O'Connor described the reversed penalty as a "game-changer'' but said his team needed to show better composure in the final 10 minutes.
"We've got to be good enough to move on,'' O'Connor said.
"Unfortunately we lost our way after that and they were attacking our line.
"They were pretty clinical and won the game.''
While bitterly disappointed to lose another match after leading at halftime, coach Damien Hill preferred to look at the positives.
"The second half was a really good tussle,'' Hill said.
"The effort for 30 minutes in that second half was outstanding.
"If we're going to take anything out of this, there was 70 minutes I was exceptionally proud of the boys and it shows we're getting closer.''
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Reds secure tough win over Rebels
Dengan url
http://sportifoclube.blogspot.com/2013/03/reds-secure-tough-win-over-rebels.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Reds secure tough win over Rebels
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Reds secure tough win over Rebels
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar