Reds snatch Aussie borathon
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The Reds won a tough Australian derby against the Brumbies 13-12 thanks to a missed penalty by Brumbies flyhalf Zack Holmes with time up on the clock in Canberra.
If the gameplan was to try and bore each other to death then it was executed perfectly by both sides, with one moment of magic from Luke Morahan to score the only try the difference between the two teams.
The match was a tight arm-wrestle between two teams playing very conservative rugby as though they were in a final.
The game featured an aerial battle with a lot of aimless kicking in an effort to gain territory and neither side was willing to play any rugby inside their own half.
Referee Steve Walsh was a big feature of the first half, which was dominated by penalties, as he pulled numerous players aside for a chat to weed out any skullduggery happening on the ground.
The Reds got off to the perfect start after fullback Luke Morahan claimed a high ball and then broke through a gaping hole the Brumbies' defensive line. Morahan puts chip kick ahead and backed his pace to burn the chasing Brumbies, and he did just that.
The rest of the first half was dominated by a kicking battle and several penalties at the breakdown in particular, allowing kickers Mike Harris and Zack Holmes to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Reds lead 10-6 at half-time.
The second half was much of the same, with a fierce contest at the breakdowns and very little opportunity for any of the backs to stretch their legs.
The match did liven up in the last few minutes thanks only to the fact that there was only one point in it. The Brumbies rumbled their way forward and won a penalty that would have secured a dramatic victory with the final kick of the game.
Holmes stepped up and dragged a relatively simple kick to the left to the despair of the home crowd, and the delight of the Reds players.
Man of the match: The forwards did most of the play and the major battle was between openside flanks Liam Gill and Michael Hooper. In the end Gill probably just edged it over his opposite number.
Scorers:
For Brumbies:
Pens: Holmes 4
For Reds:
Try: Morahan
Con: Harris
Pens: Harris 2
Teams:
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (captain), 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Anthony Hegarty, 17 Ruaidhri Murphy, 18 Leon Power, 19 Ita Vaea, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Robbie Coleman, 22 Tevita Kuridrani.
Reds: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Beau Robinson, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Greg Holmes.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Ben Daley, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Jake Schatz, 20 Nick Frisby, 21 Dallan Murphy, 22 Chris F'Sautia.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Lees (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
By Timmy Hancox
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