Blues clinch last-gasp victory over Reds in Super Rugby Pacific thriller in Brisbane
Blues players celebrate Sam Nock's match-winning try against the Reds in Brisbane.
A last-gasp try from Sam Nock clinched a 41-34 victory for the Blues over the Reds in an entertaining Super Rugby Pacific encounter at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.
In a thrilling encounter, in which momentum between the two sides ebbed and flowed, the Auckland-based side eventually got the rub of the green in the game’s dying moments when Nock crossed for the match-winning try.
In the end, the Blues outscored their hosts by five tries to six Patrick Tuipulotu, Cole Forbes, Angus Ta’avao, Hoskins Sotutu and Kurt Eklund also crossing the whitewash while their other points came via the boot of Harry Plummer, who slotted four conversions and a penalty.
For the Reds, rookie wing Tim Ryan led the way with a hat-trick of tries, while Jeff Toomaga-Allen and Suliasi Vunivalu also dotted down. Tom Lynagh added a couple of conversions, and Lawson Creighton succeeded with one two-pointer off the kicking and a penalty.
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With the scores deadlocked at 34-34 and with golden point extra time looming, All Blacks flyer Caleb Clarke found himself in space out wide before setting off on a mazy run.
He beat one defender and cut infield where the cover defence was waiting for him but kept his composure and offloaded to the on-rushing Nock, who crossed for the five-pointer which sealed the win for his team.
The matchwinner 🤩#SuperRugbyPacific #REDvBLU pic.twitter.com/N79pAnEmLt
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) April 27, 2024
It was a well-executed try, which was worthy of being the match-winning score, but the Reds will be wondering how they lost this match as they held a 31-20 lead by the 66th minute.
The visitors made a bright start and led 10-0 midway through the opening half courtesy of Tuipulotu and Forbes’ tries, but the Reds struck back when he crossed for his five-pointer in the 25th minute.
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The Blues were then reduced to 14 men in the 32nd minute when Bryce Heem was yellow-carded for a reckless cleanout. Despite playing with 14 men, Plummer slotted a penalty, which gave the visitors a 13-7 lead at half-time.
The match came alive after the break with Vunivalu and Ryan crossing for tries in quick succession, which meant the Reds were holding a 19-13 lead by the 51st minute.
Ta’avao then scored a converted try which meant the Reds were back in front but Ryan then crossed in spectacular fashion on the hour-mark which meant the Reds held a 24-20 lead.
The final quarter was entertaining with Ryan securing his hat-trick in the 65th minute but the Blues struck back when Sotutu scored his try, although the Reds responded with Creighton penalty in the 74th minute.
The Blues needed a response and that came when Eklund dotted down soon after before Nock’s late heroics secured them a superb victory.
The teams
Reds: 15 Jock Campbell, 14 Suli Vunivalu, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Tim Ryan, 10 Tom Lynagh, 9 Kalani Thomas, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 John Bryant, 6 Liam Wright (c), 5 Angus Blyth, 4 Ryan Smith, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Alex Hodgman
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Sef Fa’agase, 19 Connor Vest, 20 Joe Brial, 21 Louis Werchon, 22 Lawson Creighton, 23 Floyd Aubrey
Blues: 15 Cole Forbes, 14 AJ Lam, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Bryce Heem, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Harry Plummer, 9 Taufa Funaki, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Anton Segner, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Soane Vikena, 1 Ofa Tu’ungafasi
Replacements: 16 Kurt Eklund, 17 Joshua Fusitu’a, 18 Marcel Renata, 19 Lachlan McWhannell, 20 James Thompson, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Corey Evans, 23 Caleb Clarke
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Jono Bredin (New Zealand), Fraser Hannon (New Zealand)