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The smiling Reds do it again

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:40

Happy in victory: Laurie Weeks and Reds captain Will Genia

The Reds have done it again. When they beat the Crusaders they were regarded as the giantkillers of the 2010 Super 14. That tag is no longer appropriate; they are now one of the giants of the Super 14 in 2010, beating the Bulls last week and then beating the Stormers 16-13 at slippery Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Friday night to make as semifinal spot a probability.

The Stormers end their Australasian tour with two wins in New Zealand and two defeats in Australia - something that may well have expected to be reversed when they left Cape Town. They have a hard three weeks ahead to make a semifinal spot a reality.

It was, as the score suggests, an even contest but errors cost the Stormers dearly. In the first half the penalty count was 7-2 against them and the scrums were awarded 7-1 against them. It was hard for them to get into the game after their first promising, productive burst.

But the Reds hung in there and ran themselves more and more into the game, not quite as extravagantly as they had done against the Bulls but with a slow build-up till they were on top - and much of it had to do with the calm, intuitive Will Genia.

The Reds' zeal for defence was probably the rock that broke the Stormers. They were no longer the smooth team that made the Chiefs look second rate. Some of their senior players, so prominent the week before, subsided into anonymity and it was more the younger players who came to the fore. In a sense it was a battle of youth at Suncorp, perhaps a view of the future. The evening had started with the ANZAC Day oath and the promise that "we shall remember them" followed by the solemn tones of the Last Post. But then the young men took over.

Peter Grant kicked off for the Stormers and the Reds were immediately in trouble. Quade Cooper kicked out on the full for a line-out in his 22. The Stormers attacked and Tiaan Liebenberg was over but Bryan Habana had put a foot out as he passed inside. The Reds' line-out was sloppy but Genia recovered only for the Stormers to win a turnover. They went right and Duane Vermeulen gave to Andries Bekker who stretched out to score under the posts. 7-0 after 3 minutes.  It would be 47 minutes later that the Stormers scored again.

four times the Stormers attacked but four times handling let them down, once when Juan de Jongh was over. Faulty Stormers hands and several penalties brought the Reds into the game. The Stormers' fizz fizzled out.

Cooper missed two penalties but when Brok Harris was penalised for an unfortunate obstruction at a line-out and Schalk Burger had played a man who did not have the ball Cooper made it 7-6 after 31 minutes.

Habana was close when he intercepted and grubbered ahead. Will Chambers was penalised for a shoulder charge but Grant missed the kick at goal.

At half-time the score was 7-6. The Reds took the lead two minutes into the second half when De Jongh was penalised at a tackle as he struggled to get away.  Then came the Reds try.

several times the Reds had sought to embarrass big Sireli Naqelevuki with kicks onto him and a hanging diagonal kick by Cooper really found him out as Chambers beat the big Fijian to the bounce and scored just in from touch-in-goal. Just in from touch Cooper converted. 16-7.

François Louw had a powerful burst and  Saia Faingaa was penalised at a tackle. 16-10 after 50 minutes.

A clever kick by Dewaldt Duvenhage gave Jaque Fourie and Habana  a chance but Fourie knocked on in a scramble for the ball on the ground. Still Leroy Houston was penalised at a tackle and Grant goaled. 16-13 after 54 minutes.

For most of the remaining time the Stormers were on top. They went through phase after phase but inevitably handling went awry. They had a five-metre scrum but JD Moller was penalised. They kicked a penalty into a good position but lost the line-out.

then after yet another knock-on Genia kicked  a long ball down into touch in the Stormers half. He followed this up with a great leap for a high ball and a strong counterattack. The Reds bashed and stayed attacking. Genia surged over as Habana tackled him. The television match official looked at many clips before eventually deciding that the ball had not been grounded. While the five-metre scrum was taking place the siren sounded and Genia hoofed the ball out.

Man of the Match: Will Genia. The short man stood head and shoulders above the others with his skill, calm, strength and instinctive rugby brain. He was wonderful.

Scorers:

For Reds:
Try: Chambers
Con: Cooper
Pens: Cooper 3

For Stormers:
Try: Bekker
Con: Grant
Pens: Grant 2

Teams

Reds: 15 Peter Hynes, 14 Brando Va’aulu, 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 Adam Byrnes, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 Sean Hardman, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Jack Kennedy, 19 Ezra Taylor, 20 Jake Schatz, 21 Ben Lucas, 22 Luke Morahan.

Stormers: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Sireli Naqelevuki, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 François Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 JC Kritzinger.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JD Moller, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Willem de Waal, 22 Tim Whitehead.

Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ian Smith (Australia), Simon Moore (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

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