Super Rugby round 10: Reds beaten by the Chiefs at Suncorp Stadium

It was the 1000th match in Queensland’s history and the Reds were desperate to perform.

Reds player Samu Kerevi is tackled.

The Queensland Reds slumped to their fourth defeat in succession as their first meeting of the season with a New Zealand side ended the same way as the previous 34 trans-Tasman battles with the Chiefs running out commanding 36-12 winners at Suncorp Stadium tonight.

It was the 1000th match in Queensland’s history and the Reds were desperate to perform, if for no other reason than the fact that the old and bold of Maroon rugby had gathered for the occasion but the reality was that the Kiwis, even understrength, had way too much firepower for them.

The Reds did fight back with two second half tries, both to the player adjudged their best on the night, Samu Kerevi, but even some of the lustre of a small resurgence was washed away with the 85th minute driving maul try by the Chiefs which restored their bonus point.

The 14,002 spectators had little to cheer about and one of the few stirring moments, an apparent try by number eight Caleb Timu, apparently placing the ball at the base of the uprights as he peeled off a lineout, came to grief when the TMO detected a fumble right on the line.

Jono Lance was just about to take the conversion when the referee, Jaco Peyper, stopped him from taking the kick. In the course of a five tries to two defeat, it meant little but it was indicative of what coach Brad Thorn did mention, that absolutely nothing was going right for Queensland.

“At this level, the first 10-20 minutes you can’t go into your shell,” said Thorn. “I thought we were rattled for the first 10 minutes. But the people who came here to support us, they stayed right to the end. There is a real desire for the team to do well.”

Izack Rodda competes at the lineout.

Chiefs co-captain Charlie Ngatai said he believed the Thorn-coached Queenslanders demonstrated more physicality in their ball carries than Reds teams of the past. “They are a young team and they are only going to get better.”

It came as some surprise that the Chiefs had scored only three tries in the first half. Somehow it seemed more, much more, although to be honest the men from the Waikato did have another two disallowed.

It seemed they were playing a different game to the Reds. Or, if it was the same game, it was being played on fast-forward when the Chiefs were in possession and at a funereal pace when the Reds had the ball. Where the Reds ran static plays, the Chiefs constantly had bodies in motion, bamboozling the Queensland defence, especially when Damian McKenzie was on the field and calling the shots. Admittedly, the Chiefs five-eighth lasted only 17 minutes before he took a head knock and had to be replaced but by that point the visitors were already 17-0 ahead.

The first try, to Canadian Test second rower Tyler Ardron had little to do with McKenzie — unless of course you count the penalty kick to touch that left the Chiefs 5m short of the tryline — but he had everything to do with their second four minutes later as he ghosted across the Reds defensive line before picking out fullback Charlie Ngatai who sliced straight through.

There was no question McKenzie’s departure slowed the Chiefs juggernaut but it still had enough momentum for All Black lock Brodie Retallick to score from close range after the New Zealanders had run the ball off the back of a scrum 10m out. It was almost a point a minute at that stage as the Chiefs surged ahead 24-0 and yet the Reds kept handing them possession to maintain the rage — either through handling errors or penalties conceded or, inexplicably, high balls from halves Ben Lucas or Lance that simply handed the opposition the ball.

The Chiefs carried on in similar fashion after the halftime break, needing just three minutes to manoeuvre hooker Liam Polwart over for a try in the corner. But there they dropped anchor until Queensland compounded error after error following the full-time siren to allow replacement prop Samisoni Taukei’aho to score a bonus point try that could yet be vitally important in the context of the tight NZ conference.

It could hardly be said that the intervening 40 minutes belonged to Queensland but they at least worked their way back into the contest and looked to be finally adjusting to the New Zealanders’ extraordinary pace. George Smith came off the bench immediately after halftime and while he looked desperately out for form — he has, after all, played only 40 minutes of club football this season — he did provide a settling influence on the youngsters.

Thorn emptied the bench and would have been delighted with the pace at which replacement halfback Moses Sorovi and winger Jordan Petaia attacked the game. Sorovi, especially, was clearing the ball quickly and crisply from the ruck base and the cumbersome Reds backline finally creaked into life.

Still, the Reds looked all too predictable — so predictable that Chiefs inside centre Johnny Fa’auli was able to line up Timu from a long way off and hit him with a shuddering tackle. Certainly the Reds performance won’t do anything to still the voices crying for the return from Siberia of Quade Cooper.

Lance is being offered so few runners that it is scarcely any wonder that oppositions have quickly identified he is simply shovelling the ball out and are marshalling their forces accordingly. Last night, one player presented himself for an inside ball from the Queensland five-eighth. It was Taniela Tupou, the Queensland tight-head.