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Reds end their Bloem drought

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:00

Pivotal pair: Reds halfbacks Will Genia and Quade Cooper

The Reds, in very poor conditions, recorded their first ever Super Rugby win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein - a comprehensive 31-10 triumph in their Round Seven encounter on Friday.

How to take chances and win a match and win it well. That's what the Reds did on a slippery surface in Bloemfontein to set their South African jaunt bouncing.

It was slithery after a thunderstorm before the match and then a patch of drizzle during it. That spoilt handling but it did not dampen the Reds' resolve. It was also probably not the reason why there was - yet again in Bloemfontein - a poor crowd. They just get poor crowds in Bloemfontein.

The Cheetahs were certainly a dilapidated side - at least as far as their loose forwards went. They lost Heinrich Brüssow, then they lost Frans Viljoen and then, shortly before the match, they lost Juan Smith who went to his father's bedside. They brought in Ashley Johnson at No.8 and then brought retired lock Barend Pieterse onto the flank in Smith's place with their fitness man Niel du Plessis on the bench. There was amateurish look about it.

Yet, despite the setbacks and despite the margin of defeat they had their chances. They took one. The Reds had their chances and took all but one. The Reds were far more aggressive at the tackle. On their ball they piled in to anybody in the neighbourhood and from any angle to secure the ball, and then time and again they got over the advantage line. There was scarcely an occasion when they set their minds to advancing that they did not advance. That left little turnover ball for the Cheetahs. Then they were much, much better out wide - faster and more creative. Because the Reds kept the ball in hand more the Cheetahs had more tackles to make and inevitably missed more tackles.

The Cheetahs were much better at the scrums where the Reds' props were penalised five times and may have been fortunate not to be made to pay more when a scrum collapsed five metres from their line as the Cheetahs shoved ahead.

Because the Reds got ahead early in the second half the Cheetahs resorted to desperate tactics to find a try. They turned up three kickable penalties in search of try opportunities, and once they kicked the penalty dead. They lacked a steadying hand on the tiller.

The Cheetahs scored first with a penalty goal, the third losing Super 14 team to do so on Friday. The first time young Ben Daley was penalised at a scrum, Meyer Bosman goaled. 3-0 after 3 minutes.

The Reds went through phases till they lost the ball. But back they came and again their went through phases till Will Genia, not quite strolling, scored a try. 5-3 to the Reds after 11 minutes.

They attacked again when Anthony Faingaa broke between Adriaan Strauss and Ashley Johnson till Quade Cooper did the silliest thing on a Super 14 field, at least this season.

The ball was dead in the Cheetahs' in-goal. It was a drop-out to the Cheetahs and Tewis de Bruyn cam back with the ball towards the 22. Cooper stuck out a leg and kick-tripped him. Cooper was sent to the sin bin.

But the Reds scored in his absence - a penalty when Johnson tackled high - and easy kick for Genia. 8-3 after 25 minutes.

But then the Cheetahs rushed on to the attack. The Reds were penalised a fait way out and in front of their posts. Olivier tapped and raced ahead, giving to Sarel Pretorius who reached the upright as his team got behind him. This produced a five-metre scrum. Western Province Nel got the shove-on on his side of the scrum and Johnson picked over for an untouched burst for the line. 10-8 to the Cheetahs after 32 minutes.

Digby Ioane had a strong run and the Reds attacked. Hendro Scholtz's was penalised at tackle and Cooper goaled. 11-10 to the Reds on the stroke of half-time.

The Reds started like a house on fire in the second half. Scholtz was again penalised at a tackle and the score was 14-10. Saia Faingaa won a turnover at a tackle a long way out and raced down the right. The Reds were hot on the attack and Bosman was penalised for being offside under his posts and five metres from his line. Genia tapped and gave to Hynes  who was standing nearby. The fullback beat Scholtz, Olivier, Pieterse and Pretorius, obviously in a confined space, to score under the posts. He beat four players in five metres. That made it 21-10 and the Cheetahs tried to play catch-up.

They had a great opportunity to score when Cooper, for some reason, took a quick throw-in with a long, dipping pass to Antony Faingaa who knocked on and then held on. The Cheetahs tapped and Nico Breedt and Nel were close. They ere over but the television match official ruled that he could not advise a try as the evidence was not clear. They had a five-metre scrum, shoved till it went down, and then bashed. Breedt was over for what looked like a try but they were brought back for a pretty spurious knock-on.

There were still 30 minutes to play, but nothing much happened in this chopped up game with its messy scrums. Cooper had a long break. Then he grubbered and Bjorn Basson flykicked out under pressure. The Reds bashed and were over the line but Jake Schatz was held up by Strauss. Coenie Oosthuizen was penalised and spoken to when a scrum went down and Cooper goaled. 24-10 with six minutes to play.

The Reds got the ball wide and attacked. The Cheetahs won a scrum five metres from their own line but Johnson passed to nobody in in-goal and conceded a five-metre scrum. Pieterse was penalised, the Reds tapped - Genia to Ioane - and the powerful centre scored.

Man of the Match: Quade Cooper would be a candidate were it not for his idiotic moment. Scott Higginbotham had another great game as did Digby Ioane, but our choic is - not for the first time - Will Genia, the calm general who makes things happen.

The scorers:

For the Cheetahs:
Try: Johnson
Con: Olivier
Pen: Bosman

For the Reds:
Tries: Genia, Hynes, Ioane
Con: Cooper 2
Pens: Genia, Cooper 3

Yellow card: Quade Cooper (Reds, 26 - foul play, trip)

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Barend Pieterse, 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Niel du Plessis, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Corné Uys, 22 Wilmaure Louw.

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 Jake Schatz, 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 Ezra Taylor, 20 Ben Lucas, 21 Will Chambers, 22 Rod Davies.

Referee: Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

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