Super Rugby: Queensland Reds concede late penalty in 25-25 draw with Blues

REDS skipper Rob Simmons cursed last-minute panic for blowing a much-needed first win on Saturday night as the Blues grabbed a draw.

Penalty pain for much improved Reds

FRUSTRATED Reds skipper Rob Simmons cursed last-minute panic for blowing a much-needed first win on Saturday night when the Blues were allowed to escape with a 25-all draw.

A victory to purge a month of poor results, ragged play and the sacking of a coach was there for the taking at Suncorp Stadium but was scuttled by a costly late lineout blemish and a penalty on full-time.

Blues goalkicker Ihaia West slotted the simple penalty goal to force the draw after the Reds had entered the final quarter of the match at Suncorp Stadium with a 25-15 lead after their best showing of the year.

Simmons lamented the lost chance.

“Seventy-nine minutes of some excellent rugby but we didn’t close it out,” he said.

The Reds were in the box seat with an attacking lineout with minutes to play but replacement hooker Matt Mafi failed to connect with a jumper and the Blues rolled downfield and earned the final ruck penalty after a 20-phase rumble.

“They defended the lineout very well but we panicked, under threw it and went away from our drill,” Simmons said.

“It was a bit of everything, not one thing at the end.”

It was a hugely frustrating finish because the Reds were barely recognisable from the outfit that crashed to a tryless, insipid loss to Western Force just two weeks earlier when rock bottom cost Richard Graham his coaching job.

The Reds pulled back a 15-7 deficit midway through the first half to grab a 25-15 lead midway through the second half with three fine tries and their best 40 minutes of the season.

The transformation in mood, polish and sheer willpower was palpable from the Reds and the modest crowd of 15,197 screamed approval.

Simmons spoke on match eve of the extra clarity to team plans under new co-coaches Nick Stiles and Matt O’Connor and it was clear in their first two strikeback tries, one a shrewd contestable high kick and the other a set play try off the Reds dominant scrum.

McIntyre’s kick to the sideline of bull Chris Feauai-Sautia picked a size mismatch with Blues winger Tevita Li.

Feauai-Sautia swallowed the kick and put the slick in-and-away on Steven Luatua that he should have tried on Kurtley Beale in round one as he beat a powerful 40m to the tryline.

The Reds have despaired at not being able to convert their scrum dominance into points but finally found a way with a classic set play from O’Connor’s playbook.

The Reds celebrate a Samu Kerevi try on Saturday night.

Standout halfback Nick Frisby looped around McIntyre and fed giant winger Eto Nabuli, who did what he’s been threatening to do for a month. He was told to back himself and he did.

Bang. He hit his right foot step and smashed through the two Blues centres in a brilliant run that set up centre Samu Kerevi for his try.

The Reds needed young halves Frisby and McIntyre to stand tall and they did in their most decisive display together.

Frisby was in everything, including the key ankle-high tackle that felled Blues centre Male Sa’u with a try-saver when the Blues led 15-10.

He had two touches in the sweeping McIntyre try that again involved a Nabuli injection.

“It’s incredibly disappointing not to close that out because I thought we did enough to win it. There were huge steps forwards in some areas, including the defence that nullified their attacking threats, but you’ve got to have a hard egde to close out games at this level,” co-coach O’Connor said.

REDS 25 (C Feauai-Sautia, S Kerevi, J McIntyre tries; J McIntyre 2 con, 2 pen goals)

BLUES 25 (B Hall, I West, B Guyton tries: I West 2 conv, 2 pen goal)

Originally published as Super Rugby: Queensland Reds concede late penalty in 25-25 draw with Blues