Super Rugby Rnd 4 Reds v Drua, Suncorp Satdium 12/3 @ 6:45pm AEST

[PhilClinton]

The Drua were great at scoring points in bunches, but saying they’re similar to a Kiwi side is a long way off.

If the Reds hadn’t rolled mass substitutions with 20mins to go, including their primary goal kicker, the game was likely tracking closer to 40-9 end score as the Fijians were struggling to keep the Reds out.

In saying that, Rebels fans should feel better about their loss last week, as the Fijians clearly have the ability to win big games.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

The Drua were great at scoring points in bunches, but saying they’re similar to a Kiwi side is a long way off.

If the Reds hadn’t rolled mass substitutions with 20mins to go, including their primary goal kicker, the game was likely tracking closer to 40-9 end score as the Fijians were struggling to keep the Reds out.

In saying that, Rebels fans should feel better about their loss last week, as the Fijians clearly have the ability to win big games.

Completely agree about drua being a kiwi side along way off. My point is they will get there in years to come because they have the talent and depth to do so. Oz sides less so as don’t think we have the depth given competing footy codes. Rugby number one sport in Fiji and nz and hence more of best talent available.

 

[Adam84]

I thought reds overall game plan and tactics were quite poor last night, they tried to play Fijian rugby against a Fijian side. It worked at times but they they should have accrued more points in the first half.

JOCs kicking was poor which didn’t help

 

[Rugby follower]

I was critical of Jordan being picked at 15 however he does bring a level of class and unpredictability to the role. Other than his one bad handling error he was good last night. We now are starting to build some depth in the 15 jumper for the wallabies with banks our no 1 choice and jock and Jordan, a level under. None are at a strong international no 15 level however our cupboard doesn’t seem as bare as what it looked a month ago.

 

[Wilson]

Still need to rewatch the game to really dig into how we performed, but my view from the stadium is that Flook, Paisami and Uru were superb and our discipline is a real worry. We're playing like last years Brumbies, asking the ref to blow us off the park as soon as someone steps up and challenges us. It's somewhat understandable that we were a bit off the pace this week - it has been an intense few weeks for anyone in Brisbane, players included and theirs naturally going to be a come down after the effort to get up for last weeks game, particularly coming into a game where the expectation is a bonus point win. Hopefully that was the kick up the arse we needed to get right for the brumbies game next week.

Just on Flook, I've been a bit unsure about his shift to wing when there are out and out wingers in the squad who could be playing there, but now I don't know what I was worried about. He's very quickly changing my opinion with two excellent games really looking like a winger. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but there were shades of Ben Tune out there last night and it was a beautiful thing to see.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Uru had a belter and was MOTM in my view. And as Reg said, the senior players all had impressive games (TT aside perhaps), but there looks to be a big drop off to the replacements.

Not to rain on the fans here, but I reckon Uru's try should have been disallowed on at least 4 grounds:

(I) Fiji defender adjacent to the ruck cleaned out by Reds player offside at the ruck;

(Ii) clean out went well beyond the ruck;

(Iii) clean out constituted a tackle on player not in possession of the ball;

(iv) the try was scored at the spot the defender had been positioned.

Early replacements reminded me of the same issue at the Brumbies.

 

[HJ Nelson]

Photos from the game

Reds hold on again Fast Finishing Fijians

The Queensland Reds let a big lead (28-9) slip against the Fijian Drua, but hung on for a tight win in a thriller at Suncorp Stadium. The Drua staged a spectacular fightback in the second half to level the scores at 28-all, but Seru Uru dived over for the match winning try with a few minutes...

www.tremainfocused.com

 

[TSR]

The player that Smith cleans out is reaching over the ruck and trying to put hands on the ball. He is clearly engaged in the ruck and so is fair game to be cleaned. Smith comes form behind the last feet and cleans back and across. So he enters the ruck from an onside position, so no probs there. I don’t personally see any problem with the distance of the clean out either and it is standard fare to clean out away from your head. Nothing wrong with any of it IMO.

Edit: and you hear Jordy Way warning him ‘no hands’ as further proof he was fair game.

 

[The Nomad]

Uru had a belter and was MOTM in my view. And as Reg said, the senior players all had impressive games (TT aside perhaps), but there looks to be a big drop off to the replacements.

Not to rain on the fans here, but I reckon Uru's try should have been disallowed on at least 4 grounds:

(I) Fiji defender adjacent to the ruck cleaned out by Reds player offside at the ruck;

(Ii) clean out went well beyond the ruck;

(Iii) clean out constituted a tackle on player not in possession of the ball;

(iv) the try was scored at the spot the defender had been positioned.

Early replacements reminded me of the same issue at the Brumbies.

Agree about Uru and TT , also surprised the refs didn’t look at the clean out you mentioned. The saving grace for the Reds is they were playing under penalty advantage right in front of the posts.
Three points would have been enough.

 

[wamberal]

A belter of a contest. I have not been sold on Flook, but he looks the goods at this level. When (if?) Daugunu and Vunivalu come back from injury or wherever they are Thorn will face some tough choices.

 

[Tomikin]

The player that Smith cleans out is reaching over the ruck and trying to put hands on the ball. He is clearly engaged in the ruck and so is fair game to be cleaned. Smith comes form behind the last feet and cleans back and across. So he enters the ruck from an onside position, so no probs there. I don’t personally see any problem with the distance of the clean out either and it is standard fare to clean out away from your head. Nothing wrong with any of it IMO.

Edit: and you hear Jordy Way warning him ‘no hands’ as further proof he was fair game.

I'm happy to let the ref decided as he was right there and I can't be bothered looking back at it . But I did think he came from the side not the last feet..

 

[TSR]

I'm happy to let the ref decided as he was right there and I can't be bothered looking back at it . But I did think he came from the side not the last feet..

Watch the highlights then. That’s what I did. And he didn’t come from the side.

 

[SteveWA]

Im a bit miffed why it wasn't 13 v 13 for awhile, why didn't both Drua get sent (or one get a red) on that spear tackle. For anyone watching the TV, why wasn't it a penalty for that mid air tackle on Pasami on the 78th minute?

It was a lifting tackle (hence yellow) not a spear tackle (in that he wasn't driven into the ground). The protocols are quite explicit, even if we don't agree with them.

 

[gel]

Glad we won, but it was a fairly awful game to watch tbh.

Probably the best part was when the Drua scored some really good tries near the end.

 

[PhilClinton]

Geez the commentators said ‘Uru chasing his second try’ or at the end ‘two tries tonight for Uru!’ A number of times.

I thought it was going crazy as I swore one was taken off him, and it was.

 

[wamberal]

Glad we won, but it was a fairly awful game to watch tbh.

Probably the best part was when the Drua scored some really good tries near the end.

Gee, you're hard to please. It had just about everything.

 

[PhilClinton]

Completely agree about drua being a kiwi side along way off. My point is they will get there in years to come because they have the talent and depth to do so. Oz sides less so as don’t think we have the depth given competing footy codes. Rugby number one sport in Fiji and nz and hence more of best talent available.

Whilst I don’t disagree that the Drua will get better year on year, how are they planning to retain or claw back their top line players in Europe?

Hasnt that been the biggest downfall of Fijian rugby for the last 20 years? They can’t afford to have their best players available when they need them because they’re tied up in France.

I’m not sure the Drua side will have funding to compete with those European teams - but maybe I’m wrong.

This Drua side might just be another showcase of talent to be fished by the guys with big chequebooks.

 

[cyclopath]

I didn't see the entire game, but what I saw was a belter. Both sides having a real go, plenty of physicality, and with a high tariff game like that, some errors and inaccuracies. Reds back-row was sublime. We Aussie rugby fans can be a bit hard to please. If that was a Kiwi derby, we'd be calling for "clean-up in Aisle 6!!" for the comm box.

 

[TSR]

I dunno if the Drua will ever be successful in bringing back much of their OS talent. If anything I think they may struggle for continuity from season to season because I imagine the European clubs will come at their best with healthy offers each year. But I hope it gives Fiji a more accessible core group of players to base their national side around and, if it does, that in itself will be a real bonus.

 

[TSR]

I didn't see the entire game, but what I saw was a belter. Both sides having a real go, plenty of physicality, and with a high tariff game like that, some errors and inaccuracies. Reds back-row was sublime. We Aussie rugby fans can be a bit hard to please. If that was a Kiwi derby, we'd be calling for "clean-up in Aisle 6!!" for the comm box.

I agree. I watched a Kiwi game a couple of weeks ago that people were raving about - and it was a cracker. But there was also lots of dropped ball and forced turnovers. Because of this it was end to end and the game momentum kept changing and that was what made the game so good. I admit I got frustrated with some of the blown chances last night, but I thought the game was a good spectacle.