Queensland Reds open Super Rugby Pacific campaign with wet win over Melbourne Rebels
It wasn’t pretty but the Queensland Reds ensured James O’Connor would celebrate his 100th Super Rugby appearance with a win at Suncorp Stadium.
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The Queensland Reds have defied heavy rain and slippery conditions to deliver flyhalf James O’Connor a win in his 100th Super Rugby appearance.
O’Connor kicked three goals from five attempts as the Reds’ opened their Super Rugby Pacific campaign with an 23-5 victory over the Melbourne Rebels at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
In a frustrating contest marred by a host of handling errors from both teams, it was Reds who proved the steadier to secure a three-tries-to-one win.
While O’Connor proved a calming influence in his milestone match, hit Brumbies counterpart Carter Gordon had a night to forget.
The former Reds squad member made a handling error behind his own tryline in the opening exchanges of the match and never recovered in a performance littered with mistakes.
He wasn’t the only Melbourne player to struggle, with experienced fullback Reece Hodge also producing a forgettable display in the wet.
A concern for the Reds, whose best player was No.8 Harry Wilson, was a shoulder injury that prevented co-captain Liam Wright from returning to the field after half-time.
However, Reds coach Brad Thorn said the Wright’s injury would be assessed ahead of Queensland’s clash on Friday night with NSW at Leichhardt Oval.
Star centre Hunter Paisami is also no certainty to take on the Tahs after being left out of Saturday night’s squad due to a knee injury.
Reds co-captain Tate McDermott said his side would need to improve on its performance against the Rebels to beat the Waratahs, who were 40-10 first-round winners over Fijian Drua.
“We’re not content with that,” McDermott said.
“There are areas like our defence, which was a positive, but there are so many other things which we can work on and we’ll address that Monday (ahead of) a really important game this weekend.
“We’ve just got to be better – it’s as simple as that.”
The Reds secured their win through tries from Wilson, powerhouse prop Taniela Tupou and last-minute effort from fullback Jock Campbell.
Wilson’s try nine minutes after half-time with the contest still in the balance was crucial.
He showed guile and ability to spin and stretch out to plant the ball on the line.
It was part of a memorable all-round display from Wilson, who popped the final pass for Tupou’s first-half try and was tough in defence all night.
Thorn said 22-year-old Wilson had “athletically” improved.
“He’s another year older and he’s keen improve his game.” the Reds coach said.
Rebels coach Kevin Foote was angered with the performance of Melbourne, whose only joy was a late first-half try from Brad Wilkin.
“We’re scratching our heads a little bit,” Foote said.
“It was disappointing after a long three-month pre-season to come and give that display.”
Waratahs secure drought-breaking win
NSW Waratahs captain Jake Gordon claims last year’s season from hell actually convinced him the side had something to work with because players refused to turn on each other in their darkest hour.
The Tahs halfback, who was man-of-the-match in the drought-breaking 40-10 win over Fijian Drua in Friday night’s Super Rugby Pacific opener, pinpointed solidarity as his team’s biggest asset after the humiliation of losing all 13 games in 2021.
“We learnt how resilient the group was and how many actual good blokes we have in our team.” Gordon said.
“To go through a year like that and not have guys back-stabbing each other shows the resilience in the group and we got paid today.
“It’s been a long pre-season and it’s good to see the boys put on a performance like that against a challenging Fijian team.”
Incoming coach Darren Coleman admitted he expected to discover a fair bit of animosity and
internal ructions at the Tahs when he took over.
He found the exact opposite – a unified squad instead of a divided one.
“I was super surprised (they hadn’t turned on each other). I’ve been in losing camps and cancers get in,” Coleman said.
“I noticed (their solidarity) specifically when I had on my one-on one chats with them (before
the season).
“I caught up with every player for an hour and prodded a little bit on that and laid a few traps on who was irking you, who was getting on your nerves or who don’t you rate and they’re all rock solid.
“They’re a good bunch of boys that genuinely like each other and they deserve that tonight.”
Coleman was rapt to get a win in his first game in charge, more so for the survivors of 2021 than himself.
He said: “I’m just really happy for the players and staff that went through what they did last year.
“They should be really happy and feeling really good about themselves because that’s been a while coming.”
The Waratahs’ planned revival will receive a solid test next Friday night when they host old enemy Queensland at Leichhardt Oval.
Originally published as Queensland Reds open Super Rugby Pacific campaign with wet win over Melbourne Rebels
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