Auckland give Reds the 'blues' in Brisbane
27 February 2010 (12:30)
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| Alby Mathewson © Getty Images |
The Auckland Blues overcame a half-time deficit in often heavy rain to beat the Queensland Reds 27-18 and spoil the Reds' return to their traditional Ballymore home in Brisbane in Super 14 rugby on Saturday.
Blow-by-blow scoring
Wallabies halfback Will Genia scored a try in the first two
minutes of his inaugural match as captain to help the Reds to a
13-8 half-time lead, but the Blues scored three second-half tries
and played strong defence.
All Blacks lock Anthony Boric and halfback Albie Mathewson
dotted down and Rudi Wolf added the clinching third with one minute
left.
Genia, announced as the replacement skipper for the knee-injured
James Horwill last week, picked off an attempted chip kick in the
opening minutes and ran for a try in the Reds' first match at
Ballymore in five years.
Quade Cooper, who converted, and the Blues' Stephen Brett kicked
penalties to make the score 10-3. Blues winger Rene Ranger scored a
try in the 32nd minute and, after another Cooper penalty, the half
ended with the Reds leading by five points.
Boric scored for the Blues in the 43rd, pushing over from the
back of a ruck, and Brett's conversion gave the team from New Zealand the lead for
the first time in the match at 15-13. Another try by Mathewson,
this time unconverted, put the Blues up 20-13 before a late try
from Laurie Weeks pulled the Reds to within two points.
Cooper missed the conversion of Weeks's try and a late penalty
before Wulf's last-minute try.
Reds - Tries: Will Genia, Laurie Weeks. Conversion: Quade Cooper. Penalties: Cooper (2).
Blues - Tries: Rene Ranger, Anthony Boric, Alby Mathewson, Rudi Wulf. Conversions: Stephen Brett, Lachie Munro. Penalty: Brett.
Read more on the Super 14 page.
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