Brumbies weather Sunwolves blitz but learn little about Reds

The Brumbies will have learned little from the Reds’ defeat to the Rebels.

Henry Speight attempts to catch Hosea Saumaki of the Sunwolves during the Brumbies’ win in Tokyo on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images

Just as well the Brumbies concentrate entirely on themselves, ­because they will be facing on Friday at Suncorp Stadium a Queensland Reds side that gave nothing away — aside, of course, from four competition points — when they played the Rebels in Melbourne last week.

By having two players sent off in the match, captain Scott Higginbotham being red-carded in the ninth minute, and Lukhan Tui yellow-carded for 10 minutes in the 22nd minute, the Reds effectively had no chance to show themselves or their long-suffering fans what they could do. But if there was a glimmer of light in the debacle, it was that they also disguised their form from their opponents.

Both Queensland forwards were required to submit written reports to the SANZAAR judiciary unit last night, which was to review them before making a recommendation that the Reds could either accept or reject. If they reject it, they will then have to make an ­appearance before the judiciary to argue their case.

In the event that SANZAAR imposes a suspension, the Reds would need to find a lock and a No 8 for the Brumbies match. Kane Douglas, who played in the Wallabies’ second row in the 2015 World Cup final, would presumably take over from Tui, with the fast-rising Harry Hocking coming onto the bench.

Losing Higginbotham, however, would presumably force the Reds to completely reshuffle their backrow, with Caleb Timu moving to eight, Adam Korczyk swapping from openside flanker to blindside, while Liam Wright, who made his debut for the Reds against the Rebels even though he was taken on the Wallabies spring tour as a development player, would come in at seven.

The Reds must feel they are starting their season anew this week. Being reduced to 14 men for 71 minutes effectively meant the match was over almost before it had started, and doubly so when the Rebels scored two tries while they were down to 13 men with Tui confined to the naughty chair.

All they could do was play for pride and in this area at least they distinguished themselves. To score three tries while a man down — one of them while they had only 13 on the field — was commendable. And while they let in seven tries, it was no worse than they had done with a full complement of players against the Lions in Johannesburg last year and better than they did when they conceded eight to the Chiefs in Brisbane in a humiliating 50-5 defeat in 2016. Still, Reds fans had been hoping to see an end to such embarrassing scorelines this season.

The few positives were the powerful scrummaging of the Reds pack, the form of winger Chris Feauai-Sautia — aside from standing in touch while Jono Lance crosskicked to him — and the generally effective tackling. But it was not a lot for Brumbies coach Dan McKellar to work with.

“We watched them as a group (while in Tokyo) but when you’re down to 14 men, it certainly was very challenging for them,” ­McKellar told The Australian yesterday. “We know that this is their first home game of the season and it’s going to take a massive effort from us. They’ll certainly be disappointed with what happened in Melbourne.”

The Brumbies were on full alert for a Sunwolves ambush in Tokyo and it was just as well because the Japanese still stung them early, jumping out to a 19-8 lead, three tries to one, after only 28 minutes.

“They played a good style of footy and challenged us,” McKellar said.