For a good hour, the Queensland Reds belied their rank outsider rating and dueled with the Crusaders with equal intensity and willpower.
They did so only throwing punches with one hand because of a dud scrum and still trailed just 16-15 at that stage.
The Crusaders swept over the top 37-15 with their superior firepower and more ruthless finishing of chances. The 21-0 king hit over the closing 24 minutes bloated the score when the contest that was far closer for much of the night.
The Reds gave plenty and came up short in Christchurch. What did we learn from the opening quarter-final of Super Rugby Pacific?
1 NO TUPOU, NO CHANCE IN THE FINALS
It was such a shame that prop Taniela Tupou was out with injury. His presence would have given the Reds the clout to hold their ground in most scrums and dominate others.
Instead, the Reds gave up two scrum penalties in the first half and were totally dominated in that facet.
The difference made by a good scrum straight after half-time was stark. Centre Hamish Stewart had the strong position to drill a 50-22 kick. The Reds won a slick lineout through Angus Blyth.
Two good set piece possessions set up a fine Filipo Daugunu try out wide.
2 TALE OF TWO WINGERS
The finish for the Suliasi Vunivalu try was all class from the code convert.
The Reds pinched a lineout against the throw thanks to some great hands from prop Harry Hoopert to secure the ball at the back.
Even when Jordan Petaia dashed into some space, winger Vunivalu had plenty to do on the outside.
A powerful fend and supreme awareness to keep his dangling legs above the sideline chalk when he dived for the line made it a strong, classy finish.
That’s the top finisher he was signed from the NRL to be.
The hacked clearing kick that was charged down later in the first half showed less rugby awareness from Vunivalu.
Fellow winger Filipo Daugunu had his best game of the season by far. He ran 14 times for 89m, beat six defenders, chased his own high kick to make a strong tackle and cut the errors from his game. That was all on top of a very good try.
3 KICKING CAPERS
The Reds kicked better than a week earlier against the Crusaders but there was always a chance a wayward, nothing kick was going to hurt them.
It did just after the hour mark. Daugunu had just ripped a ball of Richie Mo’unga when halfback Tate McDermott thought he’d catch out the Crusaders with a ground-gaining kick.
Instead, it was an ordinary kick when the ball could have been retained.
In the minutes that followed, silky fullback Will Jordan stepped and ignited a a super counter-attack. Ultimately, Sevu Reece stepped and danced over for the key try and the game-breaking 30-15 lead.
4 STEP UP FROM THE REDS
You could tell from the TV vision from the Reds’ coaching box that the Reds were up for this one. Coach Brad Thorn was throwing fist pumps around when his men really raised their level.
The Reds ripped in and the “Queenslander” shout went up on the field a la a match of State of Origin meaning. Thorn had stoked that fire all week.
“We wanted to do something really special,” a disappointed Thorn said.
“I’m proud of the boys ripping in. They did but we need to take another step clearly (against the NZ sides),” Thorn said.
Co-captain Liam Wright had a fine game and agreed with Thorn: “We really got stuck into them in the first 50 minutes but we were outclassed from there. The limitation is the full 80.”
5 THE MO’UNGA FACTOR
The Crusaders can go all the way to the title with a player like Richie Mo’unga.
A quick-stepping try, a quick tap, sharp distribution and seven-from-seven as a goalkicker...the All Blacks flyhalf has everything and showed it.
