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Reds run Lions ragged

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:02

Abundance of skill: Reds flyhalf Quade Cooper

The Reds fly back to Brisbane having won two of their three games in South Africa after beating the Lions 41-26 in Johannesburg on Saturday.

It's hard to tell. Did the Reds decide to do just what they wanted to do - win, get a bonus point and go home? Or did the Lions really improve?  What is certain is that the Lions were again well beaten and their defeat was due to the defence which coach Dick Muir called disgraceful and captain Cobus Grobbelaar called terrible. In fact when Peter Hynes had the ball it was neither; it was just non-existent.

It's sad because there is something so innocent about the Lions. They seem filled with earnest endeavour though how sincere that endeavour  really is when tackling is so poor is another matter.

The Reds scored within a minute and after 17 minutes had a bonus point. It took them 45 minutes to score their next try and that when the Lions had come eagerly back to 27-19.

The Reds were too fast and too clever for the Lions who, apart from their porous defence also failed to finish off promising attacks the way the Reds could with their greater skill and variety. That said, the Lions got  four tries and a bonus point, scoring 26 points to 17 after that initial blitz.

It was not Jesuit about speed, brains, skill and creativity. It was mostly about their brilliant halfback  pairing which can create magic - two young players of limitless promise - Quade Cooper and Will Genia - promise enough to equal Gregan and Larkham and perhaps surpass them.

From the kick-off the Reds started running. Rod Davies raced through them, Anthony Faingaa and Scott Higginbotham carried it on, and Cooper nudged a gentle grubber into in-goal where Davies scored. He scored right at the touch-in-goal line but Cooper converted. 7-0 after a minutes.

It must have been a horrible shock to the Lions. They looked shocked and bewildered as Peter Hynes raced past five of them and gave to Anthony Faingaa who passed from under his armpit to Cooper who went over. 12-0 after 4 minutes.

Wigan Pekeur kicked a long way down into Reds' territory and they started running - Hynes, Cooper, Genia and then hooker Saia Faingaa who paddled over to score. 19-0 after 9 minutes.

The Reds were scoring at will as the Lions missed tackles and Carlos Spencer bungled. He knocked on twice and passed forward twice in a short space of time. But it was Pekeur's bangle that produced the next score. He failed to hold a routine kick down to him and then bungled the attempt to get the ball back. Anthony Faingaa was close and then Davies scored his second try. 24-0 after 17 minutes. The match was signed, sealed, delivered.

The Lions had had an opportunity when Derek Minnie started a counterattack and it was carried on by Wikus van Heerden and Jano Vermaak till Cooper's tackle stopped it.

The Lions started to get into the match with pick-'n-drive. Doppies la Grange and Vermaak were close and then they went wide where a long Vermaak pass gave Killian an overlap and a try.

The Reds were close when a pass to Higginbotham was forward and then the Lions were close when Pekeur tapped a penalty and Todd Clever had a run for the line down the left with Wandile Mjekevu on his left.

The half-time score was 24-5.

The Lions started the second half on the attack., Twice Van Heerden was prominent but they threw in skew to an attacking line-out and then they lost the ball at the line. Instead the Reds scored when they attacked, Killian was offside and Cooper goaled. 27-5 after 50 minutes.

Hynes had another strong rerun but Vermaak saved and then the Lions bashed. Van Heerden and Spencer were close and then they gave to big Franco van der Merwe who brushed Luke Morahan aside and scored far out.  Spencer had missed a conversion and two penalty goals and now Herkie Kruger took over the kicking and goaled. 27-12 after 55 minutes.

There was nothing shy or negative about the Lions and they broke out of their own 22. Mjekevu had a long run and Minnie was close. At consecutive line-outs the Reds were penalised for taking out the jumper., For the second offence Saia Faingaa was sent to the sin bin. The Lions seized the opportunity to have a five-metre line-out which they mauled.. Then they went wide and Kruger burst past Rob Simmons to score. 27-19.

Hopes started springing in Lion breasts but they were soon quenched as Cooper went skipping and bouncing through and had Genia on his left and Hynes on his right. He looked at Genia and passed to Hynes who scored in Vermaak's tackle. 34-19.

Again the Lions broke out of their own 22 with Marius Delport and Hans van Dyk prominent but Franco van der Merwe lost the ball at the line.

The Lions mauled, picked-'n-drove and then turned the ball over and Cooper chipped them into trouble with great vision. The Reds attacked from a five-metre line-out and Ezra Taylor scored their last try.

Still the Lions did not give up and they were close till Kruger tries a grubber which rebounded. But they came back with great continuity till Spencer did a scissors with Killian who scored their bonus-point try.

Man of the Match: For his magic on attack, his creative vision, his goalkicking and his security on defence - Quade Cooper.

The scorers:

For the Lions:
Tries: Killian 2, F  van der Merwe, Kruger
Con: Kruger 3

For the Reds:
Tries: Davies 2, Cooper, S Faingaa, Hynes, Taylor
Cons: Cooper 4
Pen: Cooper

Yellow card: S Faingaa (Reds, 59th minute, dangerous tackle)

The teams:

Lions: 15 Michael Killian, 14 Wigan Pekeur, 13 Walter Venter, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Wandile Mjekevu, 10 Carlos Spencer, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Derick Minnie, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Hannes Franklin, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Hans van Dyk, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Willem Stoltz, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Jacque Coetzee, 21 Herkie Kruger, 22 Marius Delport.

Reds: 15 Peter Hynes, 14 Rod Davies, 13 Will Chambers, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Digby Ioane, 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 Ezra Taylor, 19 Jake Schatz, 20 Ben Lucas, 21 Ben Tapuai, 22 Luke Morahan.

Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Stuart Berry (South Africa), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

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