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DUCK hunting season only officially begins in New Zealand today yet Quade Cooper and the Reds were plucked, stuffed and mounted as a May trophy by half-time when they crashed in Auckland on Saturday night.
The Reds' 2014 season dissolved in the calamitous minutes either side of half-time when top prop James Slipper was in the sinbin for a lifting tackle on Blues forward Peter Saili which may yet have more dire consequences if he is cited.
The Reds were buried 44-14 with their own first strike not coming until the 53rd minute when the Blues were reduced to 14 men by All Blacks prop Tony Woodcock being yellow carded for a scrap on the ground with Ed Quirk.
The Kiwis already had a 13-0 wind in their sails when Slipper was whistled off but playing against 14 men became blue murder as they clinically motored to 20-0 at half-time and 27-0 before the Reds forward returned.
"The Blues were very physical and very good but that sinbinning was significant in that they scored two converted tries and put us pressure," Reds coach Richard Graham said.
That halfback Will Genia pulled off a brilliant trysaving tackle on Blues winger Lolagi Visinia, try-scoring lock James Horwill toiled non-stop and flanker Liam Gill made a strong 52-minute comeback will be lost in the fallout of the team's season-killing fourth straight loss.
And that Gill's team-mates were certain he had dashed away for a 7-6 lead until penalised for playing on when his two knees hit the turf in a "tackle" as he slipped free.
The Blues backs were far to good for their Reds counterparts. Source: Getty Images
There was little joy for Quade Cooper and little he could orchestrate in his 100th game for the Reds. Twice he was pinged for forward passes, he missed his opening two kicks at penalty goal and the Blues rushing defence put him and those outside him on the back foot.
His best moments were defensively with a turnover-jolting tackle on opposite number Simon Hickey and stripping the ball from prop Charlie Faumuina.
The way replacement winger Jamie-Jerry Taulagi and Mike Harris coughed up the ball in the space of 60 seconds in the second half has become too typical of the team's back-to-back errors.
The Blues are twice the team with a jolt of confidence through them. They played bigger, were stronger through the tackle and more ruthless when they broke out with their big ball-runners.
What the Reds could do with a centre like dreadlocked Ma'a Nonu. The World Cup-winner engineered the opening three tries with three different top class skills-a flat, wide pass, a pinpoint grubber kick and then a superb in-and-away and off-load as a dynamic ball-runner.
"In a perverse way our second half commitment and effort for periods was fantastic. James Horwill was immense," Graham said of the Reds' barging try-scorer.
Winger Chris Feauai-Sautia made two strong early tackles on Visinia but he will be out for a number of weeks after hurting his shoulder just before half-time. Horwill's stinger to the shoulder settled after his exit in the final minutes.
Friday night's 30-point defeat with so much on the line was numbing as the heaviest loss by the Reds on Kiwi soil since the 59-24 tumble to the Crusaders in Nelson in 2005.
The Reds have a lame 3-7 record, firm footing in the bottom four and must play just for their significant pride for the final six games of the season so this season doesn't collapse completely.
Blues 44 (Jackson Willison, Lolagi Visinia, Bryn Hall, Tom Donnelly, Ihaia West tries; Simon Hickey 4 conversions, 3 penalties; West conversion), Queensland Reds 14 (Ben Daley, James Horwill tries; Quade Cooper 2 conversions).
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