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Reds fall short in brave Lions rugby loss

Tyrone Green (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Down two men and forced to make double the tackles, Queensland glimpsed sight of an incredible Super Rugby victory against the Lions before losing 27-20 in Johannesburg.

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Yellow cards to forwards Taniela Tupou and debutant Josh Nasser either side of halftime briefly left the Reds with just 13 men as the Lions peppered their line looking to extend a 17-13 lead on Sunday morning.

But somehow the Reds held them out, breaking down the hosts’ scrum and maul before probing No.9 Tate McDermott popped out of the crowd to score under the posts and give them an unlikely lead with 15 minutes to play.

That came after impressive No.8 Harry Wilson was denied a try after inconclusive replays ensured the unlucky no-try call stood, despite a string of ruck infringements in the lead-up.

The Reds’ staunch defence finally caved though, Courtnall Skosan skipping through a gap as the Lions regained the lead and captain Elton Jantjies made it a seven-point game with a la te penalty kick.

Queensland still had their chances to steal a win at altitude, a cruel bounce from a Bryce Hegarty grubber kick spoiling a likely Henry Speight try before the winger fumbled twice in the closing stages.

Lions winger Tyrone Green was earlier denied a hat-trick when Speight’s desperate tackle dragged one of his feet over the sideline.

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Jock Campbell scored the Reds’ first try, finishing a long-range effort he started by trapping a grubbered kick with his feet as the visitors shocked the small Ellis Park crowd.

Their defence was superb with the Reds’ scrum again forcing penalties and only a bizarre uncontested maul from a lineout handing man of the match Marnus Schoeman a try on the stroke of halftime.

The Reds, who enjoyed just 37 per cent of the ball and made 123 tackles to the Lions’ 64, weathered the storm in the second half but ultimately fell short for the second straight week.

Queensland have shown plenty of positive signs but are now 0-2 after coughing up a 10-point halftime lead against the Brumbies in round one.

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They face a dangerous Jaguares outfit in Argentina next weekend before returning for their first home game against Japan’s Sunwolves.

AAP

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AM 6 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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