The first half has been a very tight one to kickstart Saturday Night of Super Rugby, with the Waratahs scoring first while the Queensland Reds ran from behind to make up some lost time as they’re both locked up 17-17 apiece at the break. But then the Waratahs won the other 40 where not only they regained the lead, but they got away fair & square with an easy win 24-32 at North Queensland Stadium in Townsville.
Don’t know where to start but the Reds just couldn’t cut it with their conversion play, having done the same mistakes time & time again that saw many established teams & now the Waratahs punish them in the end. Yes, they showed some fight earlier on when the Waratahs opened their scoring account first before the Reds overtook them at one point for the lead before they being levelled at half-time (17-17). But overall, they were inconsistent with the poor finishing & ill-discipline while watching on the Tahs regain top spot & then later extend their winning share through the finish line, which is not what they wanted to see in Townsville. Now the Reds got a tough last four games of 2023 coming up starting with the Chiefs on Friday.
Meanwhile, it’s great to see the Waratahs end up with back-to-back wins this time against their arch-rivals of the Queensland Reds after they took home the Bob Templeton Cup. They fired off really well to open the TRY scoring account first as well putting a great defensive shift to expose the Reds poor finishing play & most importantly, they took their time well to finish off the attack with a few tries on the board. This is what made the Tahs so great as of late, especially when they never gave up all long with an easy 2nd-half display. Now they’re looking to stay in the Top 8 bubble for another year, with back-to-back home games at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park ahead starting with the Melbourne Rebels next Saturday.
