Thorn: I hope Crusaders fans respect what's happening at Reds

Christchurch holds precious memories for Brad Thorn but his latest visit has ended in irritation after the Queensland Reds suffered another Super Rugby second-half fade.

Thorn was a mixture of pride and exasperation following the 24-20 loss on Friday, scoring four tries to three against the three-time defending champions but losing primarily because they failed to land a kick at goal.

Former Crusaders star Thorn wasn’t blaming anyone following a wholehearted Reds display that warranted more than a fifth defeat from six games this season.

Despite some very promising work, especially from the pack, Thorn said he’d had enough of squandering good positions.

They’ve led at halftime in four games this year but gone on to win one of them. In Christchurch they were 10-10 at the break but couldn’t push on.

“We’ve had enough of the noble defeats,” Thorn said.

“These lads have been working hard and they don’t want to be participators and neither do I.

“I don’t want to be all happy…. there’s only so long you can do that.

“We came here to win and that didn’t happen but respect to the Crusaders. I love the joint and you’ve seen what they’ve been doing the last 2-3 years.”

It was a first match as a coach in Christchurch for Thorn, who played eight seasons of Super Rugby for the perennial powerhouses, bagging two titles.

“The place means a heck of a lot to me… (but) I’d like to think the people who came and supported the Crusaders today have a real respect for what’s going on in Queensland.”

Thorn made special mention of No.8 Harry Wilson, whose rookie season went to another level.

The former Junior Wallaby scored a try, produced two clean breaks and four offloads and ran for 75m.

“I talked about Jordan Petaia a year ago, well Harry’s just turned 20 years old and you’re going to see a lot of him and a lot of these guys in years to come.”

Queensland have a good shot at a second win n ext week, hosting a Bulls side who are the only team yet to win a game.

AAP