Rebels edge 14-man Reds
The Rebels recorded their win at home this season, beating the Reds - reduced to 14 men for the best part on an hour - 23-15 in Melbourne on Friday.
It was a scrappy derby that was further marred by the red card issued to Wallaby lock James Horwill.
Horwill displayed the epitome of a filthy player and his cheap shot is likely to earn him a lengthy ban - if SANZAR is to be consistent in how they deal with foul play.
The veteran lock cost his team dearly.
To add injury to insult, Quade Cooper left the field with another shoulder injury.
It also continued Queensland's wretched start to the season with their sixth loss in seven games for their worst start to a season since their last-placed finish in 2007.
The Rebels, with flank Sean McMahon and scrumhalf Nic Stirzaker outstanding, trailed 3-12 at the time of Horwill's sending-off.
Immediately after Horwill's dismissal, the Rebels forward pack pushed over the try-line after a line-out win for Lopeti Timani to score.
Cooper kicked the Reds to a 15-10 lead, but wing Tom English scored wide to level the scores at half-time.
The Rebels dominated the Reds in the second half and the clinching try came through Stirzaker, who trailed through a break by wing Sefanaia Naivalu to score with 14 minutes left.
Mike Harris sealed the win with a penalty goal in the 71st minute.
"We're happy to get the result, but I can't say we would be too pleased with the performance," Rebels skipper Scott Higginbotham said.
"Credit to the Reds with 14 men. They really dug in and stuck into us.
"We needed that third try in the second half because it was just an arm wrestle, a stop-start game for 60-70 minutes, it was a good team try."
The loss will only add to the pressure on Reds coach Richard Graham as Queensland fielded 13 internationals against the Rebels.
"I think we responded well [to Horwill's dismissal] and we showed a lot of character, but unfortunately we didn't get the result we wanted," Reds skipper James Slipper said.
"Playing with a man down a few things had to change and I thought we adapted well to it at times, and we held in for a fair chunk of that game and we fell down at the end with that last try."
The Rebels have a bye next weekend, while the Reds head to South Africa and a match against the Northern Bulls in Pretoria.
Man of the match: Liam Gill was a constant threat at the breakdown and won his team some valuable turnovers. Will Genia had his best game of the season and Adam Thomson proved to be the Reds' most valuable player. iJordy Reid, in his first game of the season, made a mammoth impact off the bench. Sean McMahon also proved a valuable asset. However, our award goes to Rebels lock
Lopeti Timani, who is growing in stature with every game.
The scorers:
For the Rebels:
Tries: Timani, English, Stirzaker
Con: Harris
Pens: Harris 2
For the Reds:
Tries: Horwill, Schatz
Con: Cooper
Pen: Cooper
Red card: James Horwill (reds, 20 - foul play, striking the head of an opponent)
Teams:
Rebels: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Tom English, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Sefanaia Naivalu, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Nic Stirzaker, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Scott Fuglistaller, 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Tom Sexton, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Tim Metcher, 19 Cadeyrn Neville, 20 Colby Fainga'a, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Jordy Reid, 23 Bryce Hegarty.
Reds: 15 Lachie Turner, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Anthony Fainga'a, 11 James O'Connor, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 James Horwill, 4 Dave McDuling, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 James Hanson, 1 James Slipper (captain).
Replacements: 16 Ben Daley, 17 Saia Fainga'a, 18 Sef Faagase, 19 Marco Kotze, 20 Curtis Browning, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Chris Kuridrani, 23 Karmichael Hunt.
Referee: Matt O'Brien (Australia)
Assistant referees: Andrew Lees (Australia), Michael Hogan (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)