The Reds went into last night’s trial against the Rebels on the back of a strong trial against the Chiefs last week but left Ballymore with two key questions hanging over them.
Firstly, will Quade Cooper be fit to play in the opening round against the Brumbies after being stretchered off the ground and secondly, what happened to the team that played against the Chiefs?
The Rebels have played two trials against the Waratahs and the Hurricanes and have won both.
There’s been lots of talk about how the Rebels have made big changes under Tony McGahan and they certainly looked a lot better. Even though they were only trial matches the fact that they’ve now beaten the Waratahs and the Reds shouldn’t just be dismissed.
The Reds played this trial at their spiritual home, Ballymore, and considering it was Valentine’s Day it was a good crowd of 8,788.
The Reds made a few changes to their starting side this week with Chris Feauai-Sautia starting at #13 ahead of Ben Tapaui, Greg Holmes into the front row in place of Ben Daley which resulted in James Slipper moving to loosehead prop and Rod Davies in place of Aidan Toua which saw Lachie Turner shift to fullback.
For the Rebels, Scott Higginbotham continued his return from injury, Luke Burgess started at halfback and it was the first time I’d seen Toby Smith play for his new team.
The Reds played quite well in the first 25 minutes and led 13-0 with a try to Will Genia created by a Mike Harris burst followed by a break from Liam Gill and a chip through with Genia winning the race to the ball.
In the competitive environment between Australian number sevens, Gill showed a point of difference over his rivals – I’ve not seen David Pocock or Michael Hooper produce a chip kick to create a try!
While the scoreboard was all the Reds way up to that point, the Rebels were very competitive and a real feature of their game was their physicality in the tackle and ruck areas.
It was particularly noticeable how many players the Rebels were committing to their attacking rucks – they often had five or six players in the ruck to one from the Reds. That left them short of attackers for the next phase which slowed their ball down a little while players re-aligned.
The shape of their defence was impressive with a solid wall in front of the Reds even after half breaks had been created. There were also plenty of good hits in defence with Smith and Higginbotham contributing well in this area.
The Rebels kept up their pressure while the Reds seemed to switch off a little. Richard Graham said after the match that he was disappointed in this aspect after such a good start and he had every right to be.
The Reds started looking quite sloppy – making a lot of mistakes, both in contact and before contact and wasted some good opportunities.
The Rebels hit back with a try after a grubber from Bryce Hegarty when there really seemed to be nothing on. I thought Turner should have done better to cover that kick and then a poor defensive miss by Turner on Tom English just before halftime saw the Rebels take the lead 15-13.
The second half only saw one score – a penalty goal to the Rebels. The Reds created more opportunities but their poor handling continued to let them down. Many of those handling errors were created by the Rebels continued pressure in defence.
The Rebels attack still needs a lot of development with Hegarty a work in progress at flyhalf but their defence looked as good as any of the top teams. The other impressive feature of their game was their consistency throughout the match.
On the other hand the Reds inconsistent performance was not a good way to lead into their first match of the competition next week.
Last week I was full of praise for the way the Reds attacked with multiple running options, changes of angles and decoys. This week we saw very little of those positive elements and they looked like the Reds of 2013 who struggled to score tries.
The Rebels deservedly took the win 18-13 with the Reds failing to score in the final 55 minutes of the match.
For the Reds I was most impressed with Mike Harris at #12 who was one of the few players to run on to the ball and run straight. Rob Simmons and James Horwill were both good in tight with Liam Gill also contributing all around the field.
Will Genia and Cooper had little impact and once again that was because they were offered few options from runners in attack. Turner had a poor match and with Aiden Toua making a surprise recovery to make the bench and then again shining when he came on at fullback, Turner may only be under consideration for a wing spot.
For the Rebels, Higginbotham and Smith were their best with Angus Roberts also playing well. I thought Luke Burgess had a disappointing match.
The Reds had the better of the scrummaging contest in the first half but fell foul of the referee to concede a number of scrum penalties in the second half. Without access to replays I can’t tell you what was causing those issues but the problem seemed to be on the tight head side of the scrum when James Slipper and Jono Owen were packing on that side.
James Hanson made his return from a long injury layoff and there was a debut for JJ Taulagi for the Reds who almost stole the match for them with some individual brilliance not far from the end.
That should have been the end of the story but in the final minute Ed Quirk went down with a shoulder injury and as he was leaving the field Cooper was left on the ground after what looked like an innocuous situation.
Apparently he’d received an elbow to the back in a tackle and experienced neck pain. Play was stopped and there was a long delay as he was attended to on the field and then stretchered off.
Richard Graham told us after the match that he’d spoken to Cooper, who was in good spirits and although he would go for a scan he believed that it was precautionary and expected Cooper to play next week.
As I left the ground I was told by a Reds staff member that Cooper would ‘be fine’ and that him being stretchered off was precautionary and part of the protocols this year where any player with a head/neck injury must be taken off on a stretcher.
The outcome from Quirk’s injury was not clear but regardless of who plays for the Reds next week they’ll have to lift their intensity back to the level they showed against the Chiefs the previous week if they are to match the Brumbies next week.
