Reds too good for lowly Lions
The Reds kept alive their play-off hopes with a workmanlike 34-20 win over the bottom-placed Lions in their Super Rugby encounter in Brisbane on Saturday.
Wrapping up the bonus-point win inside the first hour, racing into a 34-6 lead, the Reds took their foot off the gas in the final quarter and allowed the Lions to score two late tries and regain some respectability.
But by all accounts the Reds were always going to win this encounter and they were clearly the better team.
The Lions, showing a lot more grit and endeavour than in recent weeks, took an early 6-0 lead through two Elton Jantjies penalties.
However, the Reds awoke from their early slumber - with openside star Liam Gill going over for the opening try after Scott Higginbotham made good ground in the initial burst. Mike Harris added the conversion and a penalty a few minutes later, as the men from Brisbane took a 10-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Harris made that 13-6 on the half-hour, as the L ions again found themselves on the wrong side of the referee's whistle.
Somehow the Lions managed to hang on, despite the Reds laying siege to their line in the last 10 minutes and the men from Johannesburg remained in touch.
The second half started in the worst possible way for the Lions - the best way for the Reds - when lock Franco van der Merwe was yellow carded for slapping the ball out of the scrumhalf's hand. The Reds set up a line-out and drove over from five metres out, Saia Faingaa flopping over for the try. Harris added the conversion for a 20-6 lead three minutes into the second half.
Chris F'Sautia was the next to score, starting a move and then finishing it off after a great run by Will Genia - the perfect start to a Super Rugby career, making a line-break and scoring a try with his first two touches of the ball. Harris made it 27-6 with the conversion.
The bonus-point try came when Will Genia sprinted 60 metres after the Lions turned the ball over on attack and the Reds' general raced clear of a tiring cover defence. Harris slotted his fourth conversion - 34-6.
However, the Lions kept fighting and from a well-worked rolling maul replacement hooker Martin Bezuidenhout went over for his team's first try - a well-needed boost for the struggling outfit. Jantjies added the conversion - 13-34 with 20 minutes left on the clock.
And that became a second try by replacement Jaco Kriel four minutes from time, as the Lions again rumbled forward through their hard-charging forwards. Jantjies narrowed the gap further, 20-34, with the conversion.
And that is how it finished, despite the Lions' late rally.
The scorers:
For the Reds:
Tries: Gill, S Faingaa, F'Sautia, Genia
Cons: Harris 4
Pens: Harris 2
For the Lions:
Tries: Bezuidenhout, Kriel
Cons: Jantjies 2
Pens: Jantjies 2
Yellow card: Franco van der Merwe (Lions, 43 - professional foul, knocking ball out of scrumhalf's hand)
Teams:
Reds: 15 Ben Lucas, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Jake Schatz, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Greg Holmes.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Ben Daley, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Eddie Quirk, 20 Nick Frisby, 21 Chris F'Sautia, 22 Luke Morahan.
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Joshua Strauss (captain), 7 Grant Hattingh, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Cobus Grobbelaar, 19 Jaco Kriel, 20 Tian Meyer, 21 Ruan Combrinck, 22 James Kamana.
Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Damien Mitchelmore (Australia)
TMO: Steve Lesczcynski (Australia)