Bright Reds outshine diminished Force
Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:56
The Reds illustrated their improvement in this year's Super 14 by comprehensively outplaying a sluggish and lacklustre Western Force team for a well-deserved 29-12 win in Brisbane.
The Reds scored three tries to none, and were generally the better team in the contest, holding the visitors scoreless in the second period.
It would have been safe to say that the match started off with a fair amount of needle involved in the early exchanges. It was clear that both teams were up for this one, and both were very interested in claiming the local Aussie bragging rights that were up for grabs in this Aussie derby.
The Force were of course looking to get their semifinal hunt back on track after their loss to the Waratahs last weekend.
But they failed to keep reckoning of the desire and application of a plucky Reds team that doesn't seem to know the meaning of 'nothing to play for'.
The Brisbanites showed more than just bark in their approach to this game, they were very intent on biting the Force right on the backside if the Westerners weren't on top of their game.
The scoring started almost immediately, when Reds No.8 Leroy Houston wrestled his way over the line. A pile of bodies prevented any sort of view on the matter, even for the television match official, but that seemed to be a minor problem, and despite any evidence of grounding, the try was awarded by referee Stuart Dickinson.
Reds fullback Clinton Schifcofske added the extras and the Reds led 7-0 with hardly a hundred seconds played.
The occasion was starting to dawn on most of the players - a bit of aggro between wings Drew Mitchell and Brando Va'aulu was testament to that.
The Force were quick to respond, and earned a penalty shortly after. The trusty boot of Cameron Shepherd made sure of the three points, and the scoreboard read 7-3 for the home side.
More fierce exchanges followed in those early stages, and it became quite clear that referee Dickinson was not one for warnings, as he pinged offending players very quickly with a spate of long-arm penalties.
First it was Schifcofske who took the three points from a penalty kick, before Force fullback Shepherd replied with two penalty conversions of his own to keep the Perth-based franchise in the hunt. The score read 10-9 to the Reds after 18 minutes.
That Shepherd penalty on 18 minutes was as result of some negative play from the Reds, and referee Dickinson sought to eradicate early indications of negative play by brandishing the yellow card to the offender, Schifcofske, for his professional foul of not rolling away from the tackle.
The Force were now in the ascendancy, and had the upper hand in possession, territory and personnel over the Reds. But the home side proved that they have renewed resolve this year as they defended fantastically to keep the Force at bay.
They even extended their lead despite their numerical deficit, when Berrick Barnes slotted a penalty to make it 13-9 to the Reds after 23 minutes.
The Queenslanders were now well into their stride, and try-scorer Leroy Houston impressed again with a nice break in midfield. He offloaded to Morgan Turinui, who summed up the situation quickly and punted ahead.
The chase was on, and Scott Fava of all people was the last man for the Force. He gathered on the try-line, but managed to slice his left-footed kick straight into touch-in-goal for a five-metre scrum to the Reds, which they unfortunately could not convert into points.
The Force did manage to claw back three more points via another Shepherd penalty on 33 minutes, but that was to be their last scoring act of the match, and they slipped further into lethargy and inefficiency as the match wore on.
Half-time came around, and the Reds were good value for their 13-12 lead.
The second half belonged entirely to the Reds. The Force looked like a team who were fats running out of gas, and their performance levels dropped as the match got longer. They were still scrambling, running, and trying, but their efforts seemed to lack intent and power.
Schifcofske got the scoreboard ticking in the second half with a penalty conversion in the 44th minute to make it 16-12 to the Reds, and they never looked back from here.
Three minutes later, bustling centre Morgan Turinui broke a tired tackle from Force No.8 Richard Brown, and sped towards the try-line. Drew Mitchell tried to answer the call for cover defence, but the big centre had too much pace, and slid over the line before Mitchell could reach him. Schifcofske missed the conversion, but the Reds were clearly in the mood, having stretched their lead to 21-12.
The match then went into a long scoreless period, as the Force tried and failed to take their efforts up a notch.
About 25 minutes of cut and thrust followed, but the Reds were equal to anything the Force launched at them.
During this period, James O'Connor came on as a substitute for the Reds, and in the process became the youngest player ever to play Super 14 rugby, at only 17 years of age.
But the Force replacements could not inspire a comeback, and their attempts to break the Reds line became more hurried, desperate and increasingly risky.
That desperation reached breaking point after Schifcofske added his third penalty of the evening to make it 24-12 to the home side. The Force gained possession from the restart, and tried to force the pace on the right. The Reds were up in defence very quickly, but the Force continued to throw risky passes in an attempt to get the ball out wide.
Centre Ryan Cross could not hold onto one of those frantic offloads that spiralled well above his head, and the Reds had the pill on the counter.
They did the smart thing, and sucked in the Force defenders in a ruck, before spraying it wide. A skip pass found substitute Andrew Walker, who only had to beat one of the Force props in a dash to the line, with men to spare. Walker coasted to the line and scored the try that nailed the lid shut on the Force in this encounter.
The conversion was missed, but it didn't matter.
It finished 29-12 to the Reds, placing serious question marks over the Force's ability to make the semifinal spots this year.
Man of the match: The Reds had far greater hunger for this match, and centre Morgan Turinui gets the award for a fine performance in the Reds midfield.
Moment of the match: Turinui outstripping the Force cover defence for a try, after a bustling line-break in the 47th minute.
Villain of the match: Two yellow cards, but no real villainy in this encounter.
Scorers:
For the Reds:
Tries: Houston, Turinui, Walker
Con: Schifcofske
Pens: Schifcofske 3, Barnes
For the Force:
Pens: Shepherd 4
Yellow cards: Clinton Schifcofske (Reds, 18 - professional foul, not rolling away from the tackle), David Pocock (Force, 72 - professional foul, deliberate offside)
Teams:
Reds: 15 Clinton Schifcofske, 14 Brando Va'aulu, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Ben Lucas, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 David Croft, 6 John Roe, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Van Humphries, 3 Dayna Edwards, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Coutts.
Replacements: 16 Sean Hardman, 17 Rodney Blake, 18 Ed O'Donoghue, 19 Poutasi Luafutu, 20 Will Genia, 21 Andrew Walker, 22 Charlie Fetoai.
Western Force: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Haig Sare, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Scott Staniforth (vice-captain), 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Lachlan MacKay, 9 Chris O'Young, 8 Richard Brown,
7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fava, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Tom Hockings, 3 Troy Takiari, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Luke Holmes, 17 AJ Whalley, 18 Sam Wykes, 19 Tamaiti Horua, 20 James Stannard, 21 James O'Connor, 22 Nick Cummins.
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges: Julian Pritchard (Australia), Simon Moore (Australia)
Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia)
Assessor: Wayne Erickson (Australia)
By Phil Coetzer
