Super Rugby Au Round 8 - Force vs Reds @ Cbus Stadium, 7:05pm Friday 21st August

I'd add McReight on to the list too. Backed up in support a lot, some nice turnovers, hungry all night.

And Blythe actually

Nasser fluffs his first through

I love the head space of this team.

Mad respect for the Force for still having a crack from your own line after the 80th.

BP win and a fixup for the for and against, can't ask for anything more than that

Completely. Force came to play.

Yeah respect to those Force players, they've been away from home for weeks now with a squad of players who were called in at different points, they've been a fantastic addition to the competition and the rest of Australian Rugby are indebted to them for taking part.

It is really a pity that COVID stole the Force opportunity for a home that was actually a home. Force fans deserve some reward.

Respect.

Jeez if the reds forwards can keep playing like this how good will they be. Love the back row but the tight five were everywhere.gave the backs space which JOC used well.

Apart from being gutted with the result. Well played Reds. Underdone and the playing squad needs a bit more. Massive respect to Pek, Heath, Stander, KBomb and others that have been loyal servants to the club and want to bring on the next generation. We've been decimated with our top line talent, but we will be back.

McDermott and McRight split MoTM for me. Both in everything.

I think we need to take the overall performance with a pinch of salt, but good to see some of the more experienced blokes like JOC and Tupou really standing up. I hope they can carry that into the Wallabies.

Gregan made a good point that the Reds attack was still very, very good despite losing both centres very early. I think it's a great sign of whole squad understanding the attacking plans and ethos that they didn't go back into the shells.

I think there is no doubt that the Reds are the team on the rise in Australian rugby. Brad Thorn has introduced that toughness and never say die attitude. They will have ups and downs but they will be in contention for higher honours this year or the next..whatever that competition looks like.

Unfortunately mate this comp hasn’t really been an even playing field and it is very tough on your guys (and the Rebels) being away from home for the whole tournament. It’s great to have you back in the comp though and looking forward to the team re-establishing itself.

Well that was grim for the Force. Great for the Reds and great for the Wallabies, though.

The hard thing about losses at the moment as a Force supporter is that there isn't a whole lot of hope that comes with a performance like that. Outclassed across the field and not a whole lot of prospect of getting any better. The great thing about the Reds is that whenever there has been a few lean years, there has always been some really exciting young tearaways knocking on the door and showing the kind of promise that makes the losses easier to swallow.

How good was that from the Reds tonight? Surely a message is getting through to our NZ friends. Both Brumbies and Rebels were competitive with NZ in the initial SR 2020 comp, and the Reds and Tahs have now shown exceptional form in both attack and defense during SRAu. All four sides would acquit themselves with honour if a TT eventuates. And with the money apparently available to the Force, their side next year will likely be a huge step up from this year - and they don't need to go looking for heart, they have it in spades.

Reds have definite world class players in Tupou, Wright, McDermott and Petaia, with McReight, Wilson and Daugunu not far behind. McDermott probably MOTM tonight but all of the above were excellent. Tupou must have won the starting THP spot for the Wallabies in the past few weeks. He is one out of the box - arguably the best THP in the world now, and likely to be for another 10 years or more.

This SRAu competition has developed into a very impressive competition.

Well played Reds. A little disappointed with The Force who looked willing but a little lacking after the early forays.

Clinical from reds tonight. What we have seen is reds, tahs and rebels make massive strides forward in terms of improvement, whilst force haven’t.

Force had tough time playing away from home and clearly need to go on big recruitment drive for next season, but it is a start to be back playing with other pro rugby sides and with twiggy backing and development pathways they have put in place they will improve.

But gees the reds do look good and have to be my favourites to win this but then again didn’t the tahs put 45 points on then a few weeks ago. What a competition this is turning into..

Force will also need to be a bit more ruthless and clear out some of the journeyman like Tessman given they are taking spots for other younger talent to be part of the squad to develop.