Wow!! It has been a wild, crazy & high-scoring game tonight that went down the wire alongside a mix of cancelled TRY scoring reviews. Queensland Reds fired off well with back-to-back tries, but the first half has not been half full when the Melbourne Rebels showed excellent fightback by snatching the lead off them before they led comfortably at the break, 26-14. In the 2nd half, the Reds’ early momentum as shown in the opening 40 has put them back in contention. However, that fast restart has quickly turned upside down with the Rebels regained the lead once more before they shut down the Reds with the clock ticking ahead of full-time at AAMI Park, 40-34.
It’s disappointing to see the Reds leave Melbourne with the loss, even though they fired off well but then things began to be inconsistent before it became too much to handle against a serious Super Rugby team like the Rebels in the end. There’s nothing wrong about their attack & defense where the talent is clearly there to see with some excellent fightback. But a mix of ill-discipline, loss of Hunter Paisami to injury & lost penalties really hurt them time and time again that gave the Rebels several chances to get the job done in which began to haunt them. And they couldn’t rectify it before the pressure became bigger and bigger; Once that happens, it’s almost impossible to get out of this situation as the Reds didn’t win that game tonight. It’s something they need to be really careful & put a brace face on v Crusaders next Friday at home (Brisbane).
Meanwhile, Melbourne is celebrating right now after the Rebels got away with a huge win v Reds. They might have been two tries down earlier on, but the way the Rebels responded to their slow start alongside the Reds’ messy discipline gave them a huge opportunity to dominate the game & they’ve done it well with both hands. Credit to Carter Gordon’s creativity at No.10, particularly when pace is a really important skill to express themselves at Super Rugby level. And every time a gap has been opened through the gate, 1-2 Reds defenders or even no one couldn’t mark them while the Rebels speed their way through the score zone by bagging TRY after TRY on home soil. Let’s see if they can go all the way with Fijian Drua next over in Suva on Saturday afternoon followed by back-to-back meetings v the top NZ teams like the Crusaders & Blues.
