Ed Quirk is part of a dynamic Reds backrow. Source: Darren England / News Limited
THE chest-beating Cheetahs have thrown down the gauntlet to the Reds on Friday night by spruiking that no Aussie forward pack should ever bully them.
No better call to arms could be invented for the Queenslanders as a final top up of intensity for their first home game at Suncorp Stadium in nine months.
It will be music to the ears of recalled Reds prop Ben Daley because building the right mentality to face a South African foe has been the message all week.
"Taking the game physically to the Cheetahs as well as showing patience with the ball are big because we came unstuck in those areas against NSW," Daley said.
Much as the Reds have been soul-searching this week to bounce back from the 32-5 flop against NSW, the Cheetahs have copped an old-style rev-up.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske spared no player after his 2013 playoff side coughed up 25 turnovers in their 35-14 crash in Melbourne a week ago.
"We were bullied by an Australian side at the breakdown. That's simply not on," Drotske fumed to SuperSport in South Africa.
Reds coach Richard Graham swatted away the backhander which came after another jibe from Jacques Potgieter, the Springbok in the NSW pack.
"It seems a bit of a theme from the South Africans with Potgieter saying Australians were more technical at the breakdown whereas he is used to being physical and bashing things," Graham said.
"Don't worry, we have been getting the right mentality for this game to be there physically but also be aware.
"The Cheetahs initiate a lot of their play from (winger) Willie le Roux. He's a dangerous guy when you can chip kick four times from your own quarter as he did recently against the Lions."
The Reds have to aim up. Right now, no team in Super Rugby is operating with fewer minutes in possession per game (11 min 47 sec).
It is an indictment on their ball-winning, last weekend's kicking follies and giving away more penalties per game (15) than any other.
Drotske was Cheetahs coach when they were trounced 41-8 at Suncorp Stadium three years ago by the Quade Cooper magic show.
That was the day game when Cooper unleashed a barely believable 25m cross-field kick into Digby Ioane's arms when behind his own tryline.
Flyhalf Cooper can expect both fair and marginal attention on Friday night because Drotske's lesson from 2011 was blunt.
"We gave Cooper far too much space when you have to be in his face for the full 80 minutes," Drotske said when lecturing himself three years ago.
Daley and motivated hooker James Hanson both warned that 113kg Springboks hooker Adriaan Strauss is the big ball-carrier that Reds defenders must fell every time.
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