Queensland Reds lose weight, poise during Super Rugby defeat to Sharks in steamy Durban

REDS players lost more than 60kg of body weight in the Durban sauna as well as losing their handling poise when a comeback win was on.

Chris Feauai-Sautia tries to stop Sharks centre Sibusiso Sithole.

REDS players lost more than 60kg of body weight in the Durban sauna as well as losing their handling poise when a comeback win was on.

The frustrated Queenslanders were dumped 35-20 by the Sharks after botching try chances, a costly Beau Robinson yellow card and conceding seven penalty goals.

The Reds hit the final 18 minutes just 28-20 in arrears and with all the momentum after two strike-back tries closed a 25-6 half-time deficit.

The humid 28 degree conditions were like Brisbane in summer and the ball was as hard to hold as an eel at times.

Sweat-soaked No. 8 Jake Schatz shed 6kg while the squad lost more than the racing weight of 51kg jockey Chris Munce over the course of the sapping match.

Wallaby centre Mike Harris blew the easiest try chance of 2014 on half-time and his muttered curses showed he knew it.

Jake Schatz reels in a lineout for the Reds.

Standout halfback Will Genia put him into a hole as wide as the Brisbane River mouth just four metres out yet Harris spilt the slippery ball.

Fullback Aidan Toua dropped a perfect Rod Davies pass shortly after the break when another try was on.

To Harris’s credit he was still one of the Reds best and a shrewd, angled run on to a Quade Cooper pass finally produced the rallying try on 53 minutes.

For the opening 25 minutes of the second half, the Reds swarmed with 60 per cent of the ball and 80 per cent of the territory against the Super Rugby leaders.

Impatient grubber kicks in the attacking 22 by Genia and Toua were rubbish options even though Toua spilt his attempted regather on the tryline.

Chris Feauai-Sautia tries to stop Sharks centre Sibusiso Sithole.

An impressive charge and offload by centre Chris Feauai-Sautia to Robinson set up the bridgehead for a classic darting Genia try from the ruckbase.

When flanker Robinson was sin-binned in the 67th minute for pulling down a Sharks lineout jumper, it killed the Reds rally.

Replacement centre Ben Tapuai was forced to pack as a makeshift flanker when the Reds conceded a tight-head scrum on their line before the Sharks’ clinching try.

Prop Ben Daley is flying home to Brisbane for scans after damaging a medial ligament in his knee in that scrum collapse.

“I felt we were right in it when we got that second half momentum and could go on to win,” Reds coach Richard Graham said.

“There’s no margin for error when there are 15 penalties against you and they have a guy (Frans Steyn) kicking them from 55m.

“The Sharks played hard on Willy Genia all game yet I thought he was outstanding and when the hole was there he took it for a try.”

Liam Gill’s claims as a Test starter were aided by another five-star performance against an all-Springbok backrow.

“I came out pretty heavily in support of that case and he’s delivered … running, linking, making plenty of tackles and that huge workrate of his,” Graham said.