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Seru Uru

It was a brilliant game to watch last night in Round 14 of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific at Suncorp Stadium, as Queensland Reds welcome Moana Pasifika. Moana fired off early with the headstart before before the Reds fought back with three tries in the Opening 40 at 24-10. Although, Moana made up some lost time in the 2nd half with another two tries on the board. However, the Reds have done enough to hold Moana back & safeguard this match-up courtesy of Harry Wilson with the win, 34-22.

Congratulations to Queensland Reds with a much-needed win v Moana after a string of consecutive defeats v New Zealand teams, even though the match-ups they played v Chiefs & Highlanders were unlucky. They responded really well after the early Moana headstart with a brilliant first-half performance, especially when Jock Campbell collected back-to-back tries. Now they will still need to improve their 2nd half performance which is something the Reds must face up v Crusaders next Friday. They haven’t scored much later on until Harry Wilson safeguarded the Reds home with his 70th minute try, although Tate McDermott’s amazing finish to this game was denied by the ref over a forward pass from Seru Uru. But they still need to put a full-match performance if the Reds are going to shock the Saders, as well as enjoy an extended run in the Playoffs beginning in two weeks’ time.

Moana Pasifika would be disappointed with the loss there, having been a great opponent against the Reds which is how Super Rugby should be like each week of this competition. They got the early headstart after Solomone Funaki opened their scoring account, as well as a comeback in the 2nd 40 with two tries from their back row forwards in Sione Tuipulotu & Henry Stowers. But a poor defensive response and some lost penalties have restricted the most of Moana’s attacking opportunities, where the Reds ran them ragged in return with the loss. They have two games next week to finish off their inaugural Super Rugby campaign at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland; one is the rearranged fixture v Western Force on Tuesday, followed by the Brumbies on Saturday.

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How good is this rivalry between the two best of the Australian Super Rugby teams here last night, as ACT Brumbies & Queensland Reds were neck in neck for the whole time through such a low-scoring match-up. Brumbies off to a great start with the three-point lead while the Reds bounced back not long later courtesy of James O’Connor, but it’s the Brums, who led the way at half-time, 10-7, before they managed to fend them off with the four-point win, 16-12. That means the Reds’ unbeaten run after four weeks so far in 2022 has now come to an end.

Unlucky from the Reds, where they endured a tough time against another elite Australian Super Rugby team in the Brums. They got the ball rolling with two tries on the board from James O’Connor in the 1st half & Josh Nasser in the 2nd half. Now the Reds may have overcome a different Tahs team by four points (16-20) back in Round 2 in Sydney, but not this time when the away side just couldn’t get past a powerful Brums defensive pack. It cost them penalty after penalty before the Reds rushed through things towards full-time, and unfortunately, it’s just wasn’t enough to upsurge the Brums in the last minute.

Meanwhile, well done to the Brums on another stellar performance last night on home soil. They got off to an early lead start via a three-point penalty goal, then JOC from the other end immediately struck back. However, they were just unstoppable as always in the attack, that helped the Brums re-gain the lead with patience. They also managed to maintain the momentum later on with plenty of opportunities with the ball. And looking at their defensive shape, the Brums frustrated the Reds attacking attempts with such a brilliant read, and that helped them maintain & hold off their winning margin against such another elite Australian Super Rugby side.

The Brums will now head to HBF Park in Perth next Friday night v Western Force at 7 pm local time/10 pm AEDT. Then it’s another State of Origin rivalry at Suncorp Stadium next Saturday night when the Queensland Reds host NSW Waratahs.

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Irae Simone has to be the all-round player on the inside midfield at No.12 last night for his Brumbies side on home turf. We love how he reached out to his forwards’ pack when being tested defensively, so they prevent the Reds from slipping past them for the lead. But what’s outstanding about him is his attacking output, where Simone read the Reds’ weaknesses well & punished them with a little inside cross-kick towards Tom Wright for the 1st half TRY (30th minute). He gave his team-mates plenty of info in order to held them back later on, and Simone managed to oversaw the Brums win under his watch by full-time.

Next up is Nick Frost on the second row at No.5 within the same Brumbies side. His massive tall build at 2 metres definitely gave the Reds a hard time under his watch last night, having put a good shift in both attack and defense. We love how he helped smash every bit of the Reds’ half with the ball that includes line-outs, before he handed over his team-mates to finish the hard work for him. And in return, they did the same for Nick with the teamwork provided when the Brums defended really well, that prevented the Reds from scoring late in the 2nd-half. It’s the communication & read that counts, which made good use of his abilities at No.5.

And hats off to Seru Uru in another week running, who put out his best in a Reds shirt on the blindside, despite the narrow loss. He was looking out for his Reds team for the whole time at all fronts when giving his team-mates plenty of help. Not only he ensured that the ball was still intact with the Reds, but he also ensured that his team was able to get past the Brums through the TRY line. It demonstrates his excellent attacking contribution, especially when he assisted the big score via the short side to Josh Nasser in the 59th minute. And while he also put a brilliant & desperate shift on the other end defensively, his Reds team were unlucky to have fallen just short.

#BRUvRED #SuperRugby #Rugby #RugbyUnion #ACTBrumbies #QueenslandReds #IraeSimone #NickFrost #SeruUru #GIOStadium

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Wow!! What a game that is to reflect a fantastic Saturday night of Super Rugby Pacific between the Queensland Reds & Fijian Drua, that went down through the wire at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Reds opened the account with a big score from full-back Jordan Petaia before Harry Wilson scored the 2nd TRY, as the home team are 12-6 at half-time before they continued to stay ahead going into the 2nd half. Meanwhile, the Drua came back from two three-point goals earlier on into three big scores late in the 2nd half, where the new start Super Rugby team almost captured an upset in front of the Reds. However, it’s Seru Uru on the blindside back row who saved the Reds’ night, thanks to a game-winning TRY that secured their unbeaten start of the 2022 campaign by five points, 33-28.

The Reds have plenty to fix in the next coming days when a messy attacking shape and ill-discipline almost put them on the brink of a shock loss v Drua. It’s not a good look when their starting frontline of Harry Hoopert & Josh Nasser were sent to the naughty chair for 10 minutes during the 1st half, as they better be careful the next time Queensland faces the Brumbies, or else they will be punished big time. However, the Reds have done enough that put themselves past the safe line first. The build-up momentum is good where they were able to stay ahead, while extending that winning share. And they managed to bounce back following the Drua’s quickfire spell late in the 2nd half when Seru Uru came in to save the day. But as said earlier, they will need to watch their discipline and get their attacking shape organized, if the Reds are to beat the Brumbies on Friday night.

Meanwhile, so unlucky from the Drua who were almost so close towards pulling that shock upset v Reds. We love how they spotted the Reds’ ill-discipline and disjointed attack, where the Drua were able to stop them from scoring at times. We also look at the example of how inside center Kalaveti Ravouvou intercepted the ball off the back end of the Reds’ messy attacking mistakes during the first few mins of play, having ran off over halfway and almost scored, when he couldn’t find any numbers around him. It gave a preview of the Drua’s plan to haunt the Reds’ later on & again almost succeeded with three quickfire tries in five minutes late in the 2nd half. The only weakness Drua needs to work on is their first 40, when some ill-discipline and a lack of finishing organization held them back before they left it too late.

The Reds will now travel to Canberra on Friday night v ACT Brumbies at GIO Stadium, while Drua will have their home game next Saturday in Sydney v Western Force at Leichardt Oval.

It will be interesting to see whether the Brumbies will stay 1st or see the Reds knock them down to 2nd in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific standings after Round 5.

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Hats off to Seru Uru, who just became the home team’s saviour tonight for the Queensland Reds, He was hard at work for the whole time on the blindside back row when Uru protected his side’s defense, as well as being involved going forward with the attack. And he kept the Reds on their toes where Uru not only helped them score a couple of tries, but he also took down the winning try himself with two minutes to spare. Competition is good for Uru, having started the last two matches v Western Force & Drua, as he hopes to stay at No.6 on Friday and test himself against a tougher opposition like the Brumbies.

Next up is Jordan Petaia where he started at full-back this time within the Reds XV v Drua tonight. He possesses so much pace and power in the Reds backline engine room, where Petaia was able to make good use of his natural game both in attack and defense. Not only how Petaia was able to protect the Reds via Try saving tackles, but he also benefited from these support numbers around him when switching to attack, including his opening TRY that launched the Reds’ scoring account. He may have been knocked down a few times with some bruises, but Petaia never gave up to help the Reds stay ahead, as he’s one hell of a hard-working backline player to watch. It will be interesting to see who will be the best of the 15s in Australia, when Petaia will go up against the Brumbies’ full-back in Tom Banks during Round 5 on Friday night.

And Kalaveti Ravouvou stood out for the Fijian Drua on the inside midfield at the No.12 shirt. He gave the Reds a huge warning that there’s trouble looming ahead, especially when he noticed the Reds’ messy attack at times earlier on, intercepted the ball along the way, and almost scored a TRY. His attacking influence in the Drua squad has led to more threats fired back to the Reds, where they were almost closer to securing an upset within 10-15 mins left. Although Drua was unlucky to lose with a brilliant 2nd half show tonight, but Ravouvou was the one who created this Drua attacking input that almost sent the Reds shockwaves.

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