Depleted Crusaders overcome Reds, Highlanders march on
SUPER RUGBY WRAP: The depleted Crusaders have made it 12 straight wins over the Queensland Reds, who are again counting the costs of unforced errors in a second-straight Super Rugby Pacific loss.
The defending champions were missing a slew of A-listers headlined by David Havili, Sevu Reece, Jack Goodhue and Sam Whitelock.
But they didn’t need them, the Reds squandering early chances to build a lead before falling 25-12 on Friday at Suncorp Stadium.
It followed a frustrating loss to Melbourne Rebels, dropping the Reds to 2-4 this season.
Reds playmaker James O’Connor endured a night of mishaps that began early when his penalty kick for touch went dead in-goal.
Demoted as kicker for goal, he watched replacement Isaac Henry go one-from-three before resuming the duties and hitting the post himself with a late penalty miss.
He also missed a tackle for the Crusaders’ first try, gave possession away with some poor in-game kicking and failed to marshal his troops when the Reds did hold the ball.
Winger Suliasi Vunivalu was also quiet in a 60-minute stint but, ahead of Sunday’s squad announcement from new coach Eddie Jones, other Wallabies hopefuls did press reasonable cases.
Jordan Petaia was full of confidence in a season-best showing in a reminder of his worth, scoring a late try thanks to a neat grubber from Tate McDermott.
The scrumhalf came to life too, energetic with the ball as the Reds tried to play with pace and also bright in defence.
Flank Harry Wilson was involved in everything in a busy first half, making two line breaks and creating opportunities the hosts were unable to take.
They still only trailed 15-7 at halftime, McDermott finishing a neat play that began with O’Connor and Jock Campbell down the right flank.
Earlier, two breaks through the guts of the Reds’ defence led to tries to Crusaders Leicester Fainga’anuku and Dom Gardiner.
Willi Heinz scored first after the break for the visitors, the try standing despite replays suggesting the ball had been promoted to the line inside the ruck.
Petaia’s try kept the Reds close but Richie Mo’unga kicked the Crusaders clear, the Reds butchering late chances to rescue a bonus point when they twice overplayed their hands to lose possession close to the line.
The Dunedin, New Zealand-based Highlanders have dominated the second half after a tight and high-scoring first half to beat Moana Pasifika 45-17 in a sixth-round match in Super Rugby Pacific.
The teams went to the break with the Highlanders leading 19-17 after a half which saw five tries, three to the Highlanders.
The Highlanders extended their lead with four more tries in the second half and now have won three straight matches after starting the season with three defeats.
“Three wins in a row, that’s awesome,” Highlanders captain Billy Harmon said.
“We had a slow start but we knew that we were right there, we knew that we were going to build and our performances are just getting better and better.
“We’ve got belief in our game and it’s awesome to see.”
Moana Pasifika opened the scoring with a try in the fifth minute to Solomone Funaki.
The ball first went out to the left flank where winger Miracle Faiilagi ran strongly, then travelled back across the field for Funaki to score on the right.
The Highlanders hit back quickly with a try to Pari Pari Parkinson from a lineout. Hugh Renton carried the ball in a looping run round the back and Parkinson had the strength to drive into a gap and score.
Fullback Sam Gilbert ran into the backline and through the stretched defense to extend the Highlanders’ lead to 12-7 before Moana Pasifika again went ahead with a try to Levi Aumua who carried the ball strongly through tackles near the line.
Renton scored in the 26th minute to put the Highlanders ahead 19-14 and Moana Pasifika narrowed the lead before halftime with a penalty to Lincoln McClutchie.
The Highlanders had a strong second half with good phase play and one-off running among the forwards. The Moana Pasifika defense often was stretched by the serial nature of the attacks.
After strong lead-up play by Renton, Fetuli Paea scored in the the 51st minute and Folau Fakatava set up a try for Mosese Dawai with a dummy half and inside pass from scrumhalf.
Marino Makaele-Tu’u and Thomas Umaga-Jensen scored before the end of the match as the Highlanders secured a bonus-point win.
The results and the scorers:
Moana Pasifika 17-45 Highlanders
The scorers:
For Moana Pasifika:
Tries: Funaki, Aumua
Cons: McClutchie 2
Pen: McClutchie
For Highlanders:
Tries: Parkinson, Gilbert, Renton, Paea, Dawai, Mikaele-Tu’u, Umaga-Jensen
Cons: Gilbert 5
Teams:
Moana Pasifika: 15 William Havili, 14 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 13 Levi Aumua, 12 Danny Toala, 11 Neria Fomai, 10 Lincoln McClutchie, 9 Ere Enari, 8 Solomone Funaki (captain), 7 Alamanda Motuga, 6 Miracle Faiilagi, 5 Samuel Slade, 4 Mitchael Curry, 3 Suetena Asomua, 2 Samiuela Moli, 1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth
Replacements: 16 Luteru Tolai, 17 Abraham Pole, 18 Joe ‘Apikotoa, 19 Mike McKee, 20 Jonah Mau’u, 21 Manu Paea, 22 D’Angelo Leuila, 23 Fine Inisi
Highlanders: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Connor Garden-Bachop, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Thomas Umaga-Jensen, 11 Jonah Lowe, 10 Mitch Hunt, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Hugh Renton, 7 Billy Harmon (captain), 6 Sean Withy, 5 Will Tucker, 4 Pari Pari Parkinson, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Leni Apisai, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Andrew Makalio, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Saula Ma’u, 19 Max Hicks, 20 Shannon Frizell, 21 Folau Fakatava, 22 Cameron Miller, 23 Marino Mikaele Tu’u
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe
Assistant referees: Stu Curran & Jackson Henshaw
TMO: Shane McDermott
Reds 12-25 Crusaders
The scorers:
For Queensland Reds:
Tries: McDermott, Petaia
Con: O’Connor
For Crusades:
Tries: Fainga’anuku, Gardiner, Heinz
Cons: Mo’unga 2
Pens: Mo’unga 2
Queensland Reds: 15 Jock Campbell, 14 Suliasi Vunivalu, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Isaac Henry, 11 Jordan Petaia, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Liam Wright, 5 Seru Uru, 4 Ryan Smith, 3 Zane Nonggorr, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Peni Ravai
Replacements: 16 Richie Asiata, 17 Dane Zander, 18 Phransis Sula-Siaosi, 19 Angus Blyth, 20 Jake Upfield, 21 Kalani Thomas, 22 Taj Annan, 23 Mac Grealy
Crusaders: 15 Fergus Burke, 14 Pepesana Patafilo, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 Dallas McLeod, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Noah Hotham, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Sione Havili-Talitui, 5 Dom Gardiner, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tamaiti Williams, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements: 16 Brodie McAlister, 17 George Bower, 18 Seb Calder, 19 Jamie Hannah, 20 Corey Kellow, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Will Gualter, 23 Chay Fihaki
Referee: Damon Murphy
Assistant referees: Graham Cooper & Reuben Keane
TMO: Brett Cronan
