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Reds rumble past feeble Force

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:27

Star performer: Reds playmaker Quade Cooper

The Reds continued their impressive 2010 form, also scoring their first back-to-back triumphs in four years, when they smashed a feeble Western Force 50-10 in Brisbane on Sunday.

The Reds made their own bit of history at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday. They posted their biggest winning margin ever in Super Rugby, and if the truth be told it could have been much better.

At half-time they led 36-3 but it rained at half-time and a bit during the match and then they suffered two sin-binnings. The second half was less impressive and as a result the difference in class between the two sides is understated.

The Western Force also suffered a yellow card but that was almost a positive - a felix culpa - as it moved James O'Connor to flyhalf and the Western Force looked more functional.

Their biggest problem was the line outs in the first half. Of the ten times they threw into line-outs in the first half  four were lost and three were skew. That makes life hard especially in a match when there are more line-outs - 38 in all - than any other stoppage.  It also did not help that they missed tackles.

For the Reds their victory was built on the platform the forwards built and then the artistry of its halfbacks, Will Genia and Quade Cooper.

After a robust start from the Western Force, the first try for the enthusiastic Reds came from a missed tackle. They attacked and Saia Faingaa did well, Cooper cut back and quick ball was given to Anthony Faingaa who simply ran past the feeblest of tackles by fullback Dane Haylett-Petty. Cooper goaled.. 7-0 after seven minutes.

Their second try was a splendid affair as forwards and back combined in a sweeping movement downfield. Peter Hynes broke and as he was tackled popped a pass to Digby Ioane. As Ioane was tackled to the ground he popped a pass to Luke Morahan who had no difficulty scoring. 12-0 after 11 minutes.

A minute later Saia Faingaa was penalised at a tackle and James O'Connor goaled. 12-3 after 16 minutes. This is as close as the Western Force got for the rest of the match.

From a scrum Cooper went left and right-footed a dab ion a diagonal to his left. Ioane had a kind bounce, cut inside Haylett-Petty and galloped a long way for a try which delighted everybody. 19-3.

From a five-metre line-out the Reds were over but held up, leaving combative Brett Sheehan with a bloodied nose. But they were rewarded with three more points when Nic Henderson was penalised at a scrum and Cooper had the easiest kick of the year.

The bonus-point try was exquisite.  Going right Cooper, whose distribution is magic, passed a long ball back towards the forwards and straight to Ioane who powered past Henderson and O'Connor and over as Sheehan tried to stop him. 29-3 after 34 minutes.

Two minutes later Cooper was again clever and his pass the best. From a scrum for a skew throw, he shaped for a long pass and then popped the gentlest of passes to Anthony Faingaa who cut straight through to the posts. 36-3 at half-time.

As they did in the first half, the Western Force started the half well. They attacked and Nathan Sharpe was close. Peter Hynes was sent to the sin for an infringement at a tackle  and from a scrum Matt Hodgson, who was prominent throughout, gof close after Cooper was penalised for a high tackle on All Black David Hill, a loan player from Japan, the Western Force went left with some sweet passing to Nick Cummins who had nobody in front of him because Hynes was resting. He scored in the left corner and O'Connor, far and away the best of the Western Force, converted. 36-10 after 46 minutes.

That did not spark a Western Force comeback as they did not score again. The Reds did. Haylett-Petty took a quick drop-out to himself and ran. He passed to his right and Scott Higginbotham intercepted, beat Sharpe and scored.  Cooper converted from far out. 43-10

There was an amusing moment when Cooper somehow burgled a ball near his 22 and raced off down the right touch-line as his good friend O'Connor covered. Cooper tried to distract him with some funny stepping but dropped the ball in the process.

Anthony Faingaa was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle but the Reds attacked. From a five-metre line-out they bashed and Genia lost the ball as he went over,

The rain came and Hill went to the sin bin for yet another penalty at tackle - the eight against the Western Force.

From a tackle/ruck Genia shot away and gave to Higginbotham who enjoyed scoring a try. Cooper was off and Ben Lucas converted to bring up the half century with five minutes to play.

Man of the Match: The obvious choice was of one of the halfbacks, Will Genia and Quade Cooper, and this time our vote goes to Quade Cooper who played like a genius.

The scorers:

For the Reds:
Tries: A Faingaa 2, Morahan, Ioane 2, Higginbotham 2
Cons: Cooper 5, Lucas
Pens: Cooper

For the Western Force:
Try: Cross
Con: O'Connor
Pen: O'Connor

Yellow cards: Peter Hynes (Reds, 44 - professional foul, killing the ball deliberately), Anthony Faingaa (Reds, 62 - foul play, high tackle), David Hill (Western Force, 71 - repeated infringements by the team at the breakdown)

Teams:

The Reds:  15 Peter Hynes, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Brando Va'aulu, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia (captain), 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Van Humphries, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 Sean Hardman, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Adam Byrnes, 19 Jake Schatz, 20 Ben Lucas, 21 Morgan Turinui, 22 Will Chambers.

The Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Scott Staniforth, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 David Hill, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Richard Stanford, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 2 Ryan Tyrrell, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 Pek Cowan, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Tom Hockings, 19 Jono Jenkins, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 Sam Harris, 22 Mitch Inman.

Referee: Ian Smith (Australia)
Assistant referees: Paul Marks (Australia), Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
TMO: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)

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