Karmichael hunt ends try drought but another false dawn for error-strewn Queensland Reds

KARMICHAEL Hunt snapped the longest try-drought of his career, yet absent composure late on saw the Reds throw away a winning position against the Stormers.

QLD Reds vs the Highlanders, at Suncorp Stadium. Karmichael Hunt. Pic Jono Searle.

KARMICHAEL Hunt snapped the longest try-drought of his career in Cape Town yet the Reds still found new ways to strangle a golden opportunity with another amateur hour finish of errors and absent composure.

The Reds fullback had gone 16 games without a five-pointer until he finished off an opportunist 30m break from standout backrower Curtis Browning when the Queenslanders were mounting an impressive two-try rally in five minutes just after half-time at Newlands.

False dawns have a Reds patent stamped on them this season because dragging back a 14-3 deficit to lead 22-17 at the 50-minute mark still dissolved into a 40-22 tumble to the finals-bound Stormers early on Sunday morning (AEST).

Hunt scored 53 tries during his 125-game Brisbane Broncos career but had been on starvation rations with try chances for the Reds since his debut last season.

Typically, he was less concerned about his minor milestone than being honest that the team had to keep marking themselves hard on misfires in composure.

“The way the boys got around me after my first meat pie they must have been thinking it was about time,” Hunt said from Cape Town.

“There were no tries in the AFL so it’s been a while at this level but it would have been a lot better in a win because it was a really empty dressing room.

“It’s frustrating. We’re getting on rolls to lead teams yet we are not finishing them off because we are not putting together the good footy in long enough patches.

“We have to be honest. Not getting the detail right in some of those big moments means we are still way off but we are working at it all the time.”

The Reds found a way of squandering a golden position yet again against the Stormers.

The Reds must regroup quickly when they arrive home in Brisbane late on Monday because Saturday night’s clash against the lowly Cheetahs and the May 21 clash against Japan’s one-win Sunwolves, both at Suncorp Stadium, must be grabbed as rare victories by Super Rugby’s paupers.

The Reds hit the front after 49 minutes with a classic 55m try, another set play, this time off a Rob Simmons’ lineout win.

A flat pass from flyhalf Jake McIntyre sent centre Samu Kerevi steaming through. A quick ruck recycle with a Liam Gill pass from the base, Hendrik Tui’s double-pump pass and a second touch from McIntyre sent giant Fijian Eto Nabuli galloping over for his first Reds try.

It was a quality passage of play to come on top of Kerevi’s charge down of a kick minutes earlier which ignited the first of Browning’s two big runs and Hunt’s try finish.

That made the errors to follow, a cheap dozen in 30 minutes, all the more galling because the Reds fumbled away a second half lead just as they had against the Rebels, Blues and Waratahs over the previous six weeks.

Do the checklist. McIntyre not finding touch with a clearing kick, an Anthony Faingaa forward pass, Hunt conceding the ball after an excellent Gill turnover, a dud McIntyre penalty shot, a basic Tui knock-on, a Sef Fa’agase scrum collapse, McIntyre not making 10m with a kick-off, a rubbish kick from Ayumu Goromaru, losing counter-rucks and hesitant kick-catch tidy ups.

They were hair-tugging mess-ups because mixed in were a powerful tighthead scrum win, Browning’s most authoritative game in four seasons, a super trysaving tackle from Fa’agase, 14 runs from Nabuli, even more (19) from the in-form Kerevi and McIntyre playing flatter and better in attack at times.

“We fought and won a lot of the key moments in the first 60 minutes so the effort was very pleasing but it’s incredibly disappointing to let ourselves down again with unforced errors,” co-coach Matt O’Connor said.

“We had a plan to play with width so it was good to see Eto so involved and so productive against as good a defensive side as there is in Super Rugby.”

Speedster Junior Laloifi produced some sparky moments in an inconsistent display as the late wing replacement for Chris Feauai-Sautia, who was a late withdrawal with a rolled ankle that should mend in time for a recall against the Cheetahs.

Skipper James Slipper also seems in the clear after copping a neck knock which led to his early exit after 47 minutes.

STORMERS 40

(Kobus van Wyk, Leolin Zas, Nic Groom, Vincent Koch tries; Jean-Luc du Plessis 3 cons, pen, Brandon Thomson con, 3 pens)

REDS 22

(Liam Gill, Karmichael Hunt, Eto Nabuli tries; Jake McIntyre 2 cons, pen) at Newlands.