St.George Queensland Reds beat Fiji Warriors in final pre-season match at Ballymore Stadium
The St.George Queensland Reds have edged the Fiji Warriors 17-15 in their final pre-season hit out at Ballymore Stadium tonight.
The Reds led the contest 10-0 early on, but it took a try to winger Izaia Perese in the 75th minute and the ensuing conversion from reserve flyhalf Hamish Stewart to secure the win, as the home side withstood a spirited fight back from the Fijians in the second half.
Reds head coach Brad Thorn said: “It was a tough trial. The Fijians are big men and they have that canny way of just continuing to move the ball. I thought we defended reasonably well for long periods, but our ball control let us down in attack.
“From the forwards point of view, I was really pleased with the lineout and the scrum, I thought it functioned really well.
“The internal trial felt positive and they really ripped in, the Tens was a taste of a different form of the game and tonight, there was some good stuff there but it would’ve been nice to show the crowd a bit more.
“We’ll take some lessons from tonight and continue to build toward our first match against Melbourne.”
The Reds opened the scoring five minutes in after a nice angled run from returning Reds flyhalf Jono Lance set up an attacking raid, before quick ball from scrumhalf James Tuttle sent prop Taniela Tupou over the line from close range. Tuttle added the extras and the Reds led 7-0.
The home side extended its lead to 10-0 in the 10th minute, with a penalty goal to Tuttle.
The Warriors struck back in the 17th minute when a period of sustained pressure inside the Reds’ 22-metre saw Tuwere Vugakoto burrow over from short range. Enele Malele added the extras for Fiji.
The visitors closed the gap to 10-all with a penalty goal to Malele on the stroke of half time.
The Reds had plenty of tackling practice early in the second, with barely a touch of the ball in the first 20 minutes of the second stanza.
The Warriors broke the deadlock in the 59th minute as reserve hooker Ratunaisa Navuma forced his way over to push his side out to a 15-10 lead.
The Reds wrestled back momentum in the final 10 minutes of the match, with multiple chances inside the Warriors’ 22-metre, compounded by a number of infringements from the Fijians.
Queensland finally won back the lead in the final five minutes, when reserve back Teti Tela found space for Perese to cross over in the corner. Stewart’s conversion from 10 metres in sealed the win.
The Reds’ Vodafone Super Rugby season gets underway next week when they travel to Melbourne to take on the Rebels on Friday 23 February
St.George Queensland Reds 17 (Taniela Tupou, Izaia Perese tries; James Tuttle 1, Hamish Stewart 1 cons; Tuttle 1 pen) def. Fiji Warriors 15 (Tuwere Vugakoto, Ratunaisa Navuma tries; Enele Malele 1 con, Malele 1 pen) at Ballymore Stadium on Friday 15 February 2018.
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