Reds aim for 'big' finish
The defending champions Reds maintained their late push for the Super Rugby play-offs with a bonus-point 32-17 win over the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.
It is a result which showed again that the men from Brisbane are finding their form at the right time, despite a slow start to the season.
The Reds clinched the extra point with a try by replacement back Nick Frisby six minutes from time to draw level with the Brumbies at the top of the Australian conference - with the Brumbies to play Western Force in Perth on Saturday.
The Reds edged into the top six with their four tries coming from Chris Feauai-Sautia, Dominic Shipperley, Adam Wallace-Harrison and Frisby.
Mike Harris landed three conversions and two penalties to keep the Reds comfortably in front of the Rebels after leading 24-3 at half-time.
"First and foremost it was about getting the result and we did that in the first half, but we dropped off a little bit in the second," Reds skipper Will Genia said.
"We got that fourth try which is very important in terms of the competition and we were pleased with the way we finished the game.
"We knew they would come out really emotional and fired up with the guys they were saying farewell to, so we just wanted to weather that storm early and pressure them into mistakes.
"I've very pleased with the way we finished.
"We've now got to win our last two games … and we'll go away and prepare to do that."
It was an emotional game for the Rebels with captain Stirling Mortlock playing his last match at home before retiring from Super Rugby at the end of the season, while Wallabies James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale battled injuries during the game.
O'Connor, playing his first match back after problems with a lacerated liver, looked lively before he was replaced six minutes after half-time with a hamstring strain, while Beale saw the match out in distress from a rib injury.
The Reds' kingpin flyhalf Quade Cooper played the opening 40 minutes before he was replaced at half-time as he works his way back from a serious knee injury at last year's World Cup in New Zealand.
The match continued a strong run for the Reds against their Australian Conference rivals in 2012 - with the win their sixth from seven games, including clean-sweeps of both the Brumbies and Rebels.
It also maintains the Reds all-time unbeaten record against the Rebels with four wins from as many matches against the Melbourne outfit since they joined the competition in 2011.
The victory was made even more impressive with the Reds forced to overcome the gameday loss of Wallabies flyer Digby Ioane just hours before the clash with the wing diagnosed by medical staff with a chest infection.