Reds must find balance if they are to compete with Super Rugby’s elite

NEW ZEALAND’S champion Chiefs are so far ahead of the rest in Super Rugby they are deliberately missing penalty goals to search for an edge.

James Horwill after the Reds loss to the Sharks. Picture: Steve Haag.

NEW ZEALAND’S champion Chiefs are so far ahead of the rest in Super Rugby they are deliberately missing penalty goals to search for an edge.

One of the more remarkable sights of the still-formative season was in Hamilton last Friday night.

Flyhalf Aaron Cruden was lining up a penalty goal attempt on the right-hand side of the field when he noticed the 15 Stormers players in a tight bunch in front of the posts.

Instead of pinging at the posts, he deliberately kicked the ball wide to the left in an attempt to give a chasing teammate a gimme try.

Referee Craig Joubert quickly whistled the cheekiness as a foul because it wasn’t a genuine attempt at penalty goal.

The point is the unbeaten Chiefs are already looking outside the box for extra advantages on top of their speed of play, their deft off-loading and the terrific balance to their game.

Better balance is what the Reds must find because the very good is being mixed with the very ordinary right now.

Three little grubber kicks inside 25m of the Sharks tryline is three too many. It’s a dud option and always has been.

News_Rich_Media: Western Force has scored successive Super Rugby victories after Highlanders five-eighth Hayden Parker missed a conversion on the siren.

The Reds couldn’t get line-smashing centre Chris Feauai-Sautia involved until 30 minutes into the Sharks game. When he did he was a real weapon and the Reds have to utilise their one sizeable back far more.

Flanker Liam Gill has been superb. Top prop James Slipper has been surprisingly quiet.

The Reds are the most penalised team in the competition principally through off-side and breakdown infringements.

This has got to change or the Reds risk tripping up in Johannesburg this weekend against the Lions or rather their sharpshooter Marnitz Boshoff.

Whether this first month is a success or a failure all depends on this game. Win and a 3-2 ledger from this tough away stretch is a solid springboard into home games.

Lose and it is a calamity.

It was fantastic to see such an intense Brumbies-Waratahs clash with five well-worked tries on top of the five in the Waratahs-Reds game and four in the Reds-Brumbies clash.

The biggest derby games are delivering more as a spectacle not just a dour armwrestle.

Rich credit should flow to the gritty Western Force for hanging on with 13 men for the final minutes to clinch their 31-29 upset in Dunedin for rare back-to-back wins.