The Queensland Reds have caused the boilover of the Super Rugby season, ending a decade-long drought by stunning the ladder-leading Waikato Chiefs.
The Chiefs came into the contest as red-hot favourites having won their first 10 matches to start the season, but were shocked as the Queenslanders ran out 25-22 winners.
After a Tom Lynagh penalty gave the Reds a three-point lead, they were forced to dig deep to stave off one final push from the Chiefs in the dying seconds.
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The New Zealanders put together 27 phases before Tyrone Thompson was held up in goal to give Queensland the win.
”It’s unbelievable,” Reds skipper Tate McDermott said after the win.
“We’ve had a pretty poor season, so to come down here and put on a show, I’m just so proud of the boys. Obviously we were massive underdogs and coming off a pretty poor result last week. It means everything.
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“We’ve always just lacked the polish. Discipline’s been a bloody Achilles heel for us, but tonight we just put it away.
“We defended like a pack of dogs. We turned up for each other and that’s all I can ask of this group.”
Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson was left bitterly disappointed after the first loss of the season, and lamented a slow start to the second half which saw Jock Campbell score a try four minutes after the restart.
”We knew the Reds were going to come out and give us their all,” he said.
“Nobody likes losing, it’s frustrating. I think we’ve got deep care for this team, every one of us, so when we do lose it bloody hurts. I think any team should be like that.
“We came out in the second half and didn’t start how we wanted to. If we came out strong we could’ve solved a lot of problems, but we didn’t. They came out and they scored first and it was a bit of a snowball effect from there.”
The win was the Reds’ first over the Chiefs on New Zealand soil and ended a streak of 21 straight losses in New Zealand for the club, the longest by an Australian team since Super Rugby’s inception in 1996.
Etene Nanai-Seturo scored a double for the Chiefs, including a brilliant intercept try, while Samipeni Finau gave the Chiefs a sniff with a 73rd minute try before he was stretchered off in the final minutes following a brutal head knock.
McDermott was one of four try-scorers for the Reds with George Blake (12′), Campbell (44′) and Zane Nonggorr (56′) also hitting the scoreboard.
The Reds will return home next week to face the Auckland Blues, while the Chiefs will host the Hurricanes.
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