Reds win thrilling try-fest
The defending champion Reds pulled off a thrilling 42-27 victory over the Chiefs in a wild try-fest in Brisbane on Sunday to keep the Queensland side's playoff hopes alive.
The match was an open exciting match between two proud teams who both wanted to unleash their backlines on the games and play some enterprising rugby.
The game opened up after 30 minutes with the Chiefs scoring three tries in eight minutes to pick up a 22-5 lead, but the Reds came back brilliantly scoring four tries in the next 13 minutes of the match.
The open rugby was thrilling for the crowd, but that kind of high risk play can leave defences exposed and that played a big part in nine tries being scored in the match.
While the Chiefs were happy to play the open brand of rugby, that is the style the Reds love and the Waikcato needed to keep things tighter after running into a lead just before the break.
All credit to the reds for their fightback to keep their hopes in the competition alive and remind everyone that they are still the defending champions and won't relinquish their title without a fight.
The Reds opened the scoring after Mike Harris read the play brilliantly and intercepted a loose pass from Liam Messam and charged 30m into Chiefs territory. The centre drew in two defenders with a clever angle on his run and then passed out wide to Dom Shipperley to complete the try.
The match sprung into life after 30 minutes, as the Chiefs took their chances - scoring three tries in eight minutes!
First Aaron Cruden put Richard Kahui into a gap and the ball was recycled quickly for Cruden to again provide the crucial pass to allow Sonny Bill Williams to go under the posts untouched.
The second try came from the next passage of play, quick hands in the Chiefs backline and a fantastic pass from Andrew Horrell got the ball out to Lelia Masaga. the Chiefs flyer skinned Luke Morahan on the outside and then cut infield and passed to Messam, who went over for the try.
Finally it was the try-scoring machine Arizona Taumalolo who forced his way over the line from around the fringes of a ruck - move he is proved to be the best in the business at.
With two minutes left on the clock James Horwill took the brave decision not to kick at goal and his optimism paid off. The Reds sucked in almost all the Chiefs defenders, who where outstanding on their own tryline. Will Genia sent the ball out to Ben Lucas, who got on the outside of Cruden and score a crucial try on the stroke of half-time to make the score 15-22 at the break.
After the break the Reds picked up where they had left off and scored almost immediately through No.8 Scott Higginbotham, who crashed through defenders after a short pass to him 5m from the line.
Unbelievably the Reds added another try a few minutes later after a brilliant individual break by Genia, who darted past Messam and Alex Bradley from a scrum to run 60m on a perfect angle to score in the corner. It was almost déjà vu of the scrumhalf's individual try in last year's Super Rugby final.
Minutes later Saia Faingaa went over from a line-out drive and the home team had full control of the match, while the Chiefs looked stunned.
The Chiefs were able to add one more try through some slick handling in the backs to give Asaeli Tikoirotuma the space to score round the outside, but the Reds weren't letting them back into contention.
A drop-goal and a penalty from Harris extended the lead and while the Chiefs ran around frantically looking for an opening the Reds controlled the game and held on for an incredible victory.
Man of the match: For the Chiefs Aaron Cruden created tries and was good when his forwards were in control. For the Reds Will Genia's try was incredible and Luke Morahan tackled his heart out, but the real star was Liam Gill, who made countless turnovers and dominated the breakdown for the full 80 minutes.
Scorers:
For Reds:
Tries: Shipperley, Lucas, Higginbotham, Genia, S.Faingaa
Cons: Harris 4
Pens: Harris 2
DG: Harris
For Chiefs:
Tries: Williams, Messam, Taumalolo, Tikoirotuma
Cons: Cruden 2
Pen: Cruden
Teams:
Reds: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Ben Lucas, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Jake Schatz, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 James Hanson, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Eddie Quirk, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Rod Davies.
Chiefs: 15 Andrew Horrell, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Alex Bradley, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Craig Clarke (captain), 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Arizona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Toby Smith, 18 Kane Thompson, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Augustine Pulu, 21 Jackson Willison, 22 Robbie Robinson.
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Andrew Lees (Australia), Simon Moore (Australia)
TMO: Steve Lesczcynski (Australia)
By Timmy Hancox