Blues vs Reds: Explosive Game of International Colours Leave The Reds Slightly Red In The Face
On a windless evening in Auckland, the first half of the Blues-Reds game initially seemed to get off to a slow start, but in the 7th minute, Simon Hickey slotted one of two penalties for the Blues, bringing the scoreboard to 6-0 for the Blues by the 12th minute. A frustrated Reds side saw Quade Cooper miss two penalty opportunities in the 15th and 18th minutes. In the 23rd minute, Liam Gill had a go at the try line, desperately hoping to put the Reds on the scoreboard, but the try was not awarded and the score remained 6-0 for the Blues. In the 31st minute, Jackson Willison scored a beautiful try for the Blues and Simon Hickey continued with his wonderful kicking technique to bring the Blues to a 13-0 lead by the 33rd minute. Then in the 39th minute, Logali Visinia scored an excellent try right underneath the poles, which was successfully converted by Simon Hickey bringing the scoreboard to 20-0 for the Blues by half-time.
The second half started off with a stunning try by Bryn Hall for the Blues in the 43rd minute where after Simon Hickey slotted another flawless conversion, extending the Blues’ lead to a rather convincing 27-0 against the Reds. Adding further embarrassment to the Reds, Jerome Kaino scored yet another try for the Blues in the 50th minute and Simon Hickey adding the extra 2 points to bring the scoreboard to 34-0 for the Blues and granting the home team their much deserved bonus point. In the 52nd minute, Tony Woodcock was yellow-carded for foul play and the Reds seized this much needed opportunity with Ben Daley scoring a try and Quade Cooper converting it to finally bring the Reds onto the scoreboard for the first time in 53 minutes. Yet, the Blues continued to impress when, with only 14 men on the field, the Simon Hickey successfully added another 3 points to the table for the Blues.
In the 62th minute, Jake Schatz was denied a try for the Reds, but no more than 2 minutes later, James Horwill added 5 more points for the Reds with a hard-fought try. Quade Cooper converted and brought the tally to 37-14 for the Blues by the 66th minute. In the 76th minute, a beautiful build-up saw George Moala crossing the try line, but after a TMO was called, the try was not awarded for the Blues. However, in the 79th minute, the young Ihaia West exploded on the field with a magnificent run to score a stunner of a try right in between the poles. Simon Hickey yet again converted the try, bringing the game to an end with a triumphant 44-14 score for the Blues.
It was most definitely a night showcasing the young talent of the Blues with Simon Hickey, Bryn Hall and Ihaia West providing beautiful moments of rugby brilliance.
© Annami van Dyk
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