St.George Queensland Reds suffer narrow defeat to Highlanders at Suncorp Stadium
The St.George Queensland Reds have suffered a narrow defeat to the Highlanders, falling 18-15 at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
Both sides crossed for two tries each, with the boot of Highlanders flyhalf Lima Sopoaga proving the difference as he slotted an additional penalty late in the game to break the 15-all deadlock, edging his side ahead.
Reds head coach Brad Thorn said: “It was a frustrating one. The effort is there, but our smarts are letting us down at times. There is good stuff in amongst it – our defence on our own line at times was exceptional, we just need to learn to manage a game better. It is Super Rugby, you’re up against quality teams every week.
“The first 30 minutes it felt like we were going through the motions a bit, but then we sparked up and started playing some good footy. We carried that into the second half, but they’re a good team and they had some strong input from the bench, with experienced guys like Aaron Smith coming on. Momentum swung in their favour and they managed to close it out.
“It felt like they controlled the game better at the key moments. It is obviously disappointing.”
It wasn’t until the 16th minute that either team looked like scoring, with Highlanders lock Jackson Hemopo denied a try after a series of pick and drives. Play was pulled back for a ruck infringement, and Sopoga slotted a penalty goal to give the Highlanders a 3-0 lead.
The Reds returned play to the opposite end of the field and were rewarded with a penalty goal through Jono Lance, levelling the score at 3-3.
The Highlanders crossed for the first try of the match in the 27th minute, running down the blindside of a scrum close to the Reds’ line to score in the corner. Sopoaga missed the conversion, leaving the score at 8-3.
Lance missed a penalty attempt in the 32nd minute, resulting from a Reds scrum on a tighthead feed.
The Reds forced another scrum penalty five minutes later, with Taniela Tupou again making inroads at tighthead. The Reds kicked to the corner opting for the lineout, and scored from the ensuing driving maul through Brandon Paenga-Amosa. Lance slotted the conversion, putting the Reds ahead 10-8 at half-time.
The Reds came out of the blocks firing in the second half. A midfield break from Jordan Petaia saw him link with Tupou, who threw a cut out pass to Izaia Perese on the wing. Perese threw a back-handed flick pass back into the field of play to Paenga-Amosa, putting the home-side deep within Highlanders territory.
Hamish Stewart was the eventual benefactor, scoring off the back of some enterprising lead up work from Lance and Samu Kerevi down the left-hand flank. Lance missed the conversion, leaving the score at 15-8.
The Highlanders crossed for their second try of the night through reserve flanker Liam Squire in the 57th minute. Sopoaga slotted the conversion to again level the score at 15-15.
It looked as though the Highlanders would take the lead in the 69th minute, with Kalolo Tuiloma dotting down off the back of a lineout. The ball was ruled to be knocked on and the try was disallowed.
Lance and Stewart combined to prevent a try in the corner minutes later, showing strong resolve in cover defence.
A high tackle penalty cost the Reds in the 77th minute, with Sopoaga slotting a penalty goal from the centre of the field to put the Highlanders ahead 18-15.
The Highlanders held possession ruck for the final few minutes, before a defensive penalty against the Reds saw the game come to an end.
St.George Queensland Reds 15 (Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Hamish Stewart tries; Jono Lance 1 con; Lance 1 pen goal) defeated by Highlanders 18 (Tevita Li, Liam Squire tries; Lima Sopoaga 1 con; Sopoaga 2 pen goal) at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday 26 May 2018.
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