Reds flanker Ed Quirk says he doesn’t bear any grudges toward Stephen Moore after hooker’s punch

ED Quirk bears no grudge against Brumbies hooker Stephen Moore for his wild punch in the pivotal 30 seconds that changed the Reds’ season.

Ed Quirk of the Reds during the Super Rugby match between the Queensland Reds and the Brumbies. Pic Darren England.

FLAME-HAIRED flanker Ed Quirk bears no grudge against Brumbies hooker Stephen Moore for his wild punch in the pivotal 30 seconds that changed the Reds’ season.

The Reds’ high hopes for 2014 now hang by a thread with seven wins needed from their final eight games to squeeze into the Super Rugby playoffs.

Quirk’s pain was feeling he had let down teammates rather than the impact of Moore’s left hook to the chest on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.

The flanker’s jersey grab on Moore on the ruck-edge was called a holding foul by referee Steve Walsh and no-try was ruled on a clear Will Genia grounding.

On another night, Moore might have been sin-binned, the Reds would have closed to 23-17 and had all the momentum for a 10-minute assault on 14 Brumbies.

Instead, the Reds had to wait another 13 minutes for their comeback try to reach 23-17 and were held out 23-20 by the gritty Brumbies.

“I feel bad because I felt Willy scored. I left him high and dry,” Quirk lamented post-match.

“I don’t know why it was disallowed. Mate, I had my head down at the ruck and don’t really know.”News_Rich_Media: Reds’ Richard Graham and James Horwill address the press following their team’s 20-23 loss to the Brumbies.

No one in the Reds camp was blaming Quirk, who produced his best game of the season with more urgency to run, plenty of second half fire and the first try of his 38-game Reds career.

The vocal pro-Reds crowd of 30,004 booed Moore and did again after full-time when he was interviewed by broadcasters Fox Sports in the same corner of the field.

“No grudge, no dramas. Footy’s footy…we shared a laugh at the end and you leave that stuff on the field,” Quirk said.

SANZAR officials said no further action was being taken on the Moore punch by the citing commissioner.

“That’s not really my go. It was heat of the moment with no malice intended,” said Moore, whose 91-Test career is near-spotless.

“It’s a passionate crowd in Brisbane. There was no surprise (with the second round of boos) because it all happened in that corner.

“Ed was really good about it post-match. It was a game that meant a lot to both sides.”

Reds coach Richard Graham’s contention that Moore was part of the ruck and fair game for a jersey grab by Quirk was swatted away by Brumbies director of rugby Laurie Fisher.News_Rich_Media: Fox Sports rugby commentators Nick McArdle and Tim Horan break down the Brumbies' three-point win over the Reds on Friday night.

Fisher branded the punch “immaterial” when “the bottom line is you cannot hold a player, who is in the defensive line, from the ruck.”

“End of story. I don’t care how bad or good it (a punch) looks. The first offence by the Reds cost them the try.”

A 10-6 record has snuck the Cheetahs (2013) and Sharks (2012) into the play-offs in sixth spot with a healthy haul of bonus points.

To reach that record, the Reds have huge work to do. It’s not just the maths of four wins at home as well as three on the road in Wellington, Auckland, Melbourne or Perth.

To be in the hunt, they have to fix shoddy defence out wide and clinically score when over the tryline because both Quade Cooper and Rod Davies have been dispossessed in tight recent losses.

“We’ve got four ‘must-wins’ coming up to get back in the picture. We’ve done it before,” Quirk said.

“We’ll refresh with the Easter bye, stay strong as a team as we always do and move forward. There’ll never be a dull moment at the Reds, you can count on that.”