Higgo - double trouble
One swallow doesn’t make a summer but this is no false dawn like we’ve been promised before, the Reds are the real McCoy in 2010.
Their long suffering fans will be ecstatic at the way their team ripped the heart out of the Force in the first half of today’s game, leading by 36-3 and a bonus point to boot at the break, scoring five tries in the process.
Players like Digby Ioane, Anthony Faingaa and Scott Higginbottom were unstoppable in this game, each scoring a brace of tries in this romp.
Ione in particular looked menacing with ball in hand: a tattooed blur of rippling muscle and pumping thighs – power and passion personified.
Things slowed up in the second half due to rain and a few yellow cards but the final scoreline read 50-10.
The Queenslanders are now sixth on the Super 14 ladder after five rounds, an unusual position.
With the bye weekend to recover, the Reds are then off to Bloemfontein where they’ll encounter some more serious opposition.
For those that were predicting a Force win……what were you thinking? Did their bus actually arrive at Suncorp Stadium or is it still lost in the Clem 7 tunnel?
There was more life in the Wally Lewis statue than from what we saw from the boys in blue today.
Apart from Matt Hodgson, who was the best loose forward on the park and essentially a one-man band, no-one else really turned up to play.
With their season in serious decline, I reckon John Mitchell is a dead man walking and doubt whether any of his returning injury reinforcements will be able to save him.
It's goodnight from me
For the Reds, Will Genia and Quade Cooper made an outstanding contribution, effectively controlling the match.
With talent to burn on his outsides, Cooper set up three tries with beautifully timed passes or kicks.
The backs’ astute running angles, especially the centres, opened the Force up and their ability to break tackles left the cover defence in dire straits.
The Reds’ forwards also did plenty of work and set up the platform, with one-off running from the ruck a favourite.
Their lineout was pretty tidy as well considering the conditions in the second half but they had an advantage over the Force, a hooker who could actually throw straight.
The Force lineout was atrocious. Both Tyrell and later Cowan just couldn’t find their targets and this seriously dented the possession stakes.
The last thing the Force needed was for the pill to end up back in the hands of the ever-threatening Fingers or Diggers.
The thing that resonates out of this match for me is the Reds new level of maturity. In the first half, they looked to be in complete control of the game, and were.
They refused to let the Force into the match. It was like they were squeezing the life out of them. Gee, haven’t they’ve come a long way? And there’ll be more to follow…..
And it's goodnight from him
Of the seven tries scored by the Reds, two stood out for me. In the first half, Cooper chip kicked from inside his 22 over to Diggers on the left wing.
The bounce was kind and Diggers set off in a powerful run down the touchline, easily palming off Cross in the process to score. He looked every inch a world class international.
The second one was initiated by Force fullback, Dane Haylett-Petty. He received a kick behind his tryline and decided that he had a cunning plan. Instead of touching down, he touched his boot instead (after letting the referee in on the little secret) and off he went.
A good little run it was too but once over the 30m mark he, Baldrick-like, passed the ball forward and directly into Higgo’s bread basket.
With a Kankowski turn of pace Higgo evaded and outrun a number of players to score an unlikely individual try. Captain Blackadder would not have been pleased.
The Force did score a consolation try early in the second half to Nick Cummins. The expectation was that David Hill would take some time to make an impact with the side and that proved to be the case.
For the Reds – Tries: A Faingaa 2, Morahan, Ioane 2, Higginbotham 2 Con: Cooper 5, Lucas Pen: Cooper
For the Western Force – Tries: Cummins Pen: O’Connor Conv: O’Connor
WALLABY WATCH:
Put his hand up: Quade Cooper – despite all the baggage, he is playing the best rugby of his brief career and looks the form five eighth of the Australian teams.
Did himself no favours: Ryan Cross – anonymous in a misfiring team, it is looking more and more likely that Cross (and Stirling Mortlock) are about to become former Wallabies.
Bolter Watch: Faingaa x 2 – from potential discards to Wallaby contenders in one season, the twins are firing on all cylinders.
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Lance Free: A nasty, opinionated little man whose narrow views and felonious intent can only mean 'Trouble' with a capital T. Interests: dwarf throwing and robotics. Favourite Sport: mungo bashing. Does he ever have anything positive to say? 
Great round up….man of the match for me Cooper. He was wonderful…..he is providing a clinic on how to play 5/8. Beautiful flat passing always testing and probing…..berrick who? Just wonderful….the reds are the advertisment for how this game should be played.
Sign of a very good side to put the force to the sword. I too was a little nervous they would blow this but wow.
I hope they can give the harpies a good going over….the break should help
Im a Tahs fan traditionally but, this Reds team are playing the most electric and exciting rugby I have seen in years from an Aussie outfit. Cant help but love’em
Now that was attractive rugby. I wish the reds could play the tahs now. The tahs might scored more tries this round but the reds tries were superb. Loved it.
There is something in the water in Brisbane. Don’t know what it is, but the transformation of this Berrick Barnes less side is nothing short of a miracle.
And I think the miracle’s name is probably Ewan McKenzie.
In the past I have never been too impressed with Cooper, but I’m starting to change my mind. In fact my mind is all but changed. His kicking both for goal and field position was superb and his flat cut out passes were immaculate. When he ran he was a real worry – to the opposition defence, because it was never quite clear what was on his mind. But despite his hippity hoppity sliding runs he always maintained contact with the players around him. He is a serious contender for the Wallaby No. 10 jersey IMHO or my name isn’t Robbie Deans.
Brumbies please, please take note of the way the Reds scored their tries last night. You can do it too, or you’ve got the names on paper that say you can do it. So Gits pick up your act and start doing a Quade, please.
Back to the Reds / Force. The poor Force. What can they do about this? Not much really. It’s going to be a long, long season for them. But there was a shiny pin in the turf at Suncorp and the name on it was James O’Connor. He tried everything and showed what a vast array of skills are in his armoury. The lines he ran were deft and subtle and his passing on a par with Cooper. You would think they had both been reading the same manual. He also tried a few line breaks and proved to be a real handful when he took this option.
With Wallaby watch on my mind four names came out of this match for me. They were Cooper, Higginbottom, Ioane and O’Connor. On current form the two five eigths for the Wallabies are Cooper No. 10 and O’Connor No. 12. and Higgs on the bench.
Sorry (and sadly), at this stage, the only room for Gits is on the bench.
However we’ve all seen players have a stellar S14 season and collapse in a heap of dust when the intenational season came along. So my views are tempered with a bit of caution and international experience goes a long way when it comes to selecting a test team.
Agree entirely…on Quade, the thing is Quade knows exactly how Deans wants the Wallabies to play…..im not sure gits does and is better suited at 12 anyway.
Brumbies should be Valentine, tooma, gits at 9 10 12.
The Reds should take 2 from 3 in SA. If they do, then the match up of Cooper and Morne will be worth the price alone.
Only problem with that brumbies line-up is that i believe Lealiifano is in pretty good form.
genia vs. du preez is probably more important. if it was burgess-cooper or valentine-cooper he wouldnt look so good. also steyn is easily the better kicker and quadey probably the better runner so its pretty predictable
You should write your own articles Robson, your comments are always worth reading.
For me though, on current form, I think Gits would struggle to even make the bench. He has lost his mojo.
Thanks Sideshow, but I hope Gits finds his mojo.
Coops was undoubtedly impressive and continues some fine form from the NH tour. Definitely impressed with the way he’s turned around and genuinely excited. The Genia/Cooper combination is magic to watch.
Coops has managed to cut some of the speculation out of his game and is taking intelligent options (on the whole). That double cut out pass back across the line to set up that try was absolutely brilliant. Respect.
Robson,
I think Mckenzie has added some good structure to the side especially in defence. Realisticly this side has just matured. The development of Cooper, Genia and Ioane on the Wallabies tour has given this side great maturity.
The attack is very similar to last year.
The execution has improved and the law interpretations have played in to the Reds hands.
Its a pity McCall and his dribbling mates at HQ didnt have the foresite to get McKenzie and Mooney to work together.
Then again Mooney isnt a former Wallaby or Brothers team mate of the Sargent dribbler McCall.
I didn’t actually thing that Hodgson was that good. He isn’t strong enough over the ball, and while his work rate is high he isn’t always very effective. In saying that he was the Force’s best forward, but there were plenty of Reds better than him. Braid and Higginbotham (who also has a high work rate and is now becoming more effective) just to name two.
I think from a Wallabies perspective he’s the 2nd best No 7 going round, after Pocock. He’s been consistently very, very good in every game.
He may have been trying to do a bit too much yesterday (e.g like that No 8 thing off the back of the scrum) but when you have a look at the tape his defence, workrate and overall affectiveness is without question. Problem was that, maybe McCalman excepted, he looked to be virtually doing it without much support.
Even a Tahs fan such as me enjoyed watching the Qld Reds style of play against the Force. Accurate, relentless, powerful, skillful, tough. All the things we want to say about our Rugby heroes. So good on the Reds. They did what they needed to do and never took their foot off the throat. Hats off!
However, what’s going on at the Force? Is Mitch so stubborn that he refuses to see that JO is the best option at 5/8? Not saying he would have changed the outcome. Not saying that at all, but his influence was there for all to see when he was slotted into 10.
Did you find your bus, Lance?
Flat tyre on the Nullabor….
I have to admit I tipped the Force by a sneaky couple of points. Despite their injuries on paper they have a few quality players and so called Wallabies who I expected would stand up and give the Reds a run.
So wrong!! Not sure what is going on over in Perth, however that was as inept a performance as I have seen in a while.
Credit where it is due however and whilst still early days, it is great to see a resurgent and confident Reds – can only be great for Aussie Rugby. So many players putting their hand up. Continue to be impressed by Cooper and Genia especially.
I guess it shows they always had the players however just needed time, belief and the right direction. Still the best of the Aussie teams in terms of adapting to the law interpretations as well.
The Reds play the Sharks, Cheetahs and Lions in SA; with this current form you would think they could win all 3 matches, but 2/3 wins would be a successful tour either way.
wow. I didn’t realise that was out run.
Hmmm…handy..a great test though. In reality I’d be happy with a win and some bonus points.
Honestly thats the best SA run you could hope four as they are the three weakest.
If we had stormers or bulls id say we wouldnt have much chance of winning away.
But, looking at the three teams we are playing individually, they’re pretty winnable.
I got a stiffy watching this
If the Reds keep this up, I might have to dust off the old jersey and become a proud supporter. I’m not 100% convinced (I’d love to be) that they are the real deal yet. I think this may come from years and years and years of disapointment. Prove me wrong boys and I’ll even go out and buy the latest jersey. That should be enough motivation to win more games right????
Suggest PNG’s next PM is worth at least 10 points a game to the Reds and Quade should be thanking the stars he has the best pass in the S/hem feeding him. Creates space even when he’s flat and helps him get out of jail … OK … helps him, er, a lot.
Pray Genia stays fits. And no more losses in the forwards. Horwill’s absence matters against the Kiwis and good Saffer sides. Higgenbum and Fanger in the backs the big improvers. Great to see.
I know they originally said Horwill will be out for nine months, is that still the case?
Also, if he is out for the season do we know whether he is a chance for getting back int he wallaby mix for the Spring tour?
I thought the force scrum looked decent at times, so that’s something I guess.
The Reds ran through the force like water… John Mitchell has some serious work to do, after this coming weekend most their matches are on the road…
Lance Free, i have viewed a number of your articles on this website. At first skeptical of some of your colleague’s work, it was an utter breath of fresh air to come across your stories. you offer a witty, yet informative view on our great game – Rugby!! Please keep the ball rolling, i will be waiting with anticipation. Cheers, Rugby Tragic.
Cheers Rugby Tragic. I too am skeptical about some of my colleagues work……
I suspect some of them were fagged in their private school days?