Reds prove no match for title-chasing Wartahs as they slump to 34-3 loss at Suncorp Stadium

THE Reds threw a 20-minute barrage of pressure and niggle at NSW only for it to prove that the Waratahs have the nerve to win their first Super Rugby title.

Samu Kerevi of the Reds during the Super Rugby match between the Queensland Reds and the New South Wales Waratahs. Pic Darren England.

THE desperate Reds threw a 20-minute barrage of pressure and niggle at their oldest foes only for it to prove that the NSW Waratahs have the nerve to win their first Super Rugby title.

The Waratahs grabbed a deserved 34-3 victory, their first at Suncorp Stadium since 2010 and a physical tune-up for a tough July 26 semi-final in Sydney likely against the ACT Brumbies or Aaron Cruden’s Chiefs.

The Queenslanders had their shot at an upset when Waratahs prop Sekope Kepu was sin-binned at the 28-minute mark but the curse of horrid execution and woeful handling tortured them for one final time in 2014.

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The Reds disintegrated in the final, ugly 20 minutes with a rash of dropped ball and a bungled try chance, when Lachie Turner spilt the ball with the line open. They coughed up 29 turnovers in all and the saving grace was there being no Israel Folau to magnify the defeat.

The cumulative tax of 32-5 and 34-3 defeats in 2014 meant it was the biggest double whammy from NSW since Queensland were smashed 35-6 and 38-19 in 1971.

MORE: Watch all the video highlights of the Waratahs’ big win here

Kepu was yellow carded for grabbing the hair and punching Beau Robinson but the Reds flanker happily incited it with a rattling cleanout.

The Reds did trail 14-3 at the time but threw such fervour into the rest of the half that it seemed inevitable that the 14-man Waratahs would buckle when pinned to their tryline time and again.

Giant Waratahs lock Will Skelton takes on the Reds defence.

Instead, the gritty Waratahs held strong against five Reds attacking lineouts, one bungled by a missed catch by James Horwill, another by a poor Mike Harris cross-kick and three by stout maul defence.

The Reds were not spent when Kepu returned but no try against 14 men was game over.

The Reds were fielding a largely kiddie backline even then because flyhalf Ben Lucas (knee) and centre Ben Tapuai (head knock) had gone off inside the opening 15 minutes with nasty injuries.

Big centre Samu Kerevi made several smart half-breaks and off-loads, there was effort aplenty after the sting of Stan Pilecki’s criticism last week and the pack stood up but the class difference was obvious.

Replacement flanker Liam Gill’s turnover tackle on Jacques Potgieter was superb. Alas, it was still first against 12th and the biggest crowd of the season, an inflated 36,205, were force fed it.

The Waratahs were everything the Reds were not with their three fast, clinical try strikes to reach 27-3 with man-of-the-match Kurtley Beale dazzling in all of them.

A quick Beale step and inside ball to Jono Lance set up the first and Beale backed up himself to score the second. The third had everything with a neat Beale chip kick over the top for the stout Adam Ashley-Cooper and Beale backing up again for the score.

Centre Beale stepped effortlessly into first receiver for the first two tries and the precision the Waratahs backs reached without Folau still eclipsed anything the Reds managed this season.

Originally published as Reds prove no match for title-chasing Wartahs as they slump to 34-3 loss at Suncorp Stadium