Monday, April 19, 2010
The Reds beat the Bulls in classic match at Suncorp
It was only the second defeat of the Bulls campaign but the defending champions were their own worst enemy at times, making uncharacteristic errors as they were unable to find an answer for the persistent running game of an inspired Reds side.
The Bulls are still on track for that all important home semi final though, ending round ten in joint first position with the Crusaders, with the Canterbury men in pole position due to a superior points difference.
The Reds, coached by axed Stade Francais coach Ewen McKenzie, are now serious title contenders with just four weeks left in the tournament.
"All credit to the players," said McKenzie. "We had a very specific game plan and they went out and tried their best to make it happen. They did a really good job and showed plenty of character and application.
"We didn't want to give them the ball, so we had to find ways to be creative. It's hard to play 80 minutes without giving them the ball, but that was our intention and we did pretty well.
"We didn't give them the line-outs that they wanted to play and set up their game with. For long periods of time we didn't give them the chance to play the structured game that they like to play and then they got tired from making a lot of tackles."
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke was unable to fault his teams commitment and instead praised the quality of the Reds team, who scored tries through Scott Higginbotham and Rod Davies.
"The Reds played fantastically. They took us almost out of the game in terms of possession. It's a very expansive style, but their retention was spot on. Definitely one of the best continuity performances I've seen in a long time and they deserved to win."
It was a well deserved match for the Reds and their loyal fans, who were over the moon at the final whistle. Phil Kearns summed up the feeling in the ground when he said "There's blokes in private boxes up here patting each other on the butts!"
Great match for the neutral, with some brilliant tries and excellent defense from both sides, particularly the Reds in the closing stages. Enjoy the extended highlights.
Time: 07:89
Posted at 2:41 pm | 46 comments
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Viewing 46 comments
Anonymous April 19, 2010 3:54 pm

BODisgod April 19, 2010 4:04 pm

ya reds are a quality outfit.cooper starting to fulfill all his potential,apart from the strange kicking style id rate him up there wit the best 10s in the world at the moment!id also back the aussies to win the 2011 wc..11/2 at the moment?
Anonymous April 19, 2010 4:16 pm

One query for rugbydump - is there any chance you could not put the result of the game in the heading. I'm one of those guys who hates knowing the outcome before I watch it!
minstrel boy April 19, 2010 4:25 pm

Les Bleus April 19, 2010 4:35 pm

Poor effort from the Bulls, South Africa looks vulnerable this year in the Tri-Nations.
FrankyH April 19, 2010 4:43 pm

Great match. Genia and Cooper with Giteau at 1st centre. Pretty decent combination right there for Aus.
gecko672 April 19, 2010 5:13 pm

cheyanqui April 19, 2010 5:46 pm

The harder part will be to collect on the bounty -- Cooper's so elusive.
Genia is definitely awesome, and making a run for du Preez's mantle as the #1 #9 in the world. du Preez may hang on in terms of being a better tactical kicker, but I think Genia's got him on the runs from the base.
Chris Boy April 19, 2010 6:36 pm

alexis April 19, 2010 6:56 pm

hey man chill out a bit. why are you such a hater? he just posted a comment no need to get pissed...
anyway. bulls are very very strong this year but when steyn isn't on top form it is another team... it's quite dangerous for the end of this campain... let's see.
Lovely to whatch aussi teams this year!
as always despite strange defence moves sometimes super 14 is super exciting!
cheers rd
flapjack April 19, 2010 8:10 pm

You're right, though...Genia is definitely something special.
(u-p)rick April 19, 2010 8:25 pm

Anyway on this game......really good effort looks like a good game, and yeh cooper seems to be stepping up a lot more now....
i guess with his recent 'events' he needs to prove his worth and im happy to say this performance was definately beneficial!!
(u-p)rick April 19, 2010 8:30 pm

mise April 19, 2010 11:02 pm

Also, its not poor defence as stated earlier, its v fast hands and thinking and a different interpenetration of the breakdown.
Some of the defence was excellent, and some of the tackling itself v solid.
Lsk April 19, 2010 11:57 pm

Looked as if they had one foot on the plane which isn't the right idea.
Anonymous April 20, 2010 12:06 am

The offloading, running, passing and handling were excellent particularly from the Reds and a lesser team would have conceded 5 or 6 tries.
The Bulls kept in the game with some amazing defence.
Watch and learn europeans.
Anonymous April 20, 2010 12:07 am

Jon April 20, 2010 12:23 am

His stepping and passing is second to none right now. His kicking game is very dangerous too.
The beauty of Genia is that he isn't always at the ruck, he actually plays as a fly half some of the time, let's one of the other players, like the hooker or a flanker clear the ruck, takes it at first reciever and is as dangerous there as most fly-halves or centres around.
heavy rain April 20, 2010 12:54 am

Tui April 20, 2010 2:03 am

Talk about rattled....The reds are just too strong with ball in hand.
Just like the Blues.... The bulls love a grind and the reds and blues just throw it around and create magic! :-)
Chris J April 20, 2010 2:50 am

Anonymous April 20, 2010 4:05 am

MD April 20, 2010 5:06 am

Looks like the Reds are a possibility of being the main feeder club for the Wallabies.
Genia, Cooper, Davies, Saia Faingaa, Chambers, Higginbotham, Hynes, Ioane, Morahan and Weeks are all in with a shot at the green and gold.
Anonymous April 20, 2010 5:10 am

my point being that the bulls have been pretty bad on this tour so its no suprise at all to me.. i put my money on the reds to beat them
goosNumber10 April 20, 2010 5:14 am

fantastic game.
RE: Defence, i don't think a game that finishes 19-12 can really be considered to have had poor defence.
The games that were one day cricket scores? indeed, and those teams have fallen off the pace since.
RD April 20, 2010 8:43 am

Some people want to know what they're watching before they watch it. Others want a surprise. In close matches that go down to the final minutes, spoilers are avoided if possible, but in general using something like 'Reds vs Bulls Highlights' is pretty stale, and not what RD is about.
Please email in if you'd like to discuss further. I'm open to suggestions. Cheers
If anyone else has any thoughts on spoilers, do the same please.
miner April 20, 2010 9:03 am

Phil April 20, 2010 2:35 pm

Toulouse FTW April 20, 2010 2:45 pm

Can't think of much you need to change RD. More highlights like this (length, vid quality etc) would be good though.
ilexvunibola April 20, 2010 6:21 pm

Anonymous April 20, 2010 8:24 pm

Anonymous April 20, 2010 8:26 pm

jimbo April 21, 2010 6:06 am

Funny how some are already writing off the boks for the 3n when they are the only 3n team to have 2x teams in the top four at the mo....just a thought!!
I'm not a Bok fan but I don't think anybody is really writing them off, I wouldn't be surprised if they won the 3N again. But it looks like it might not be so clear cut this year. The Aussies are looking sharp and the NZ form is a little hard to pick right now but you know they'll be up for it. Should be good.
Anonymous said...
they're celebrating like they just won the cup!! cmon i mean the reds lost at home to the waratahs and blues and to the sharks!
that's the point, they're celebrating like a team that's had patchy form and then just knocked off the competition leaders, they were underdogs and deserve to celebrate. That's what it's all about!
luxi April 21, 2010 1:54 pm

Anonymous April 21, 2010 6:28 pm

we only play similar when it's Heineken/play off's or internationally (sometimes)
Anonymous April 21, 2010 7:28 pm

Les Bleus April 21, 2010 7:53 pm

I predict a Stormers Crusaders final.
Jason April 22, 2010 7:37 am

Anonymous April 23, 2010 6:49 pm

Anonymous April 24, 2010 8:55 am
















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