Waratahs edge Reds in tight Australian derby

Brisbane - The Waratahs punished the Reds for an 11th successive time in a Super Rugby try-fest at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

As it happened: Reds v Waratahs

The Waratahs won 40-32 (half-time 14-15) to continue their incredible run against their oldest rivals with a pulsating win that featured 10 tries.

The Sydneysiders only got four of them with Bernard Foley's boot winning the match as he kicked four conversions and four penalties. In contrast, the Reds' Bryce Hegarty missed five conversions.

It was a crucial win to keep them in touch with the Brumbies at the top of the Australian conference with the Super Rugby finals fast approaching.
Foley's kicking was almost flawless, leaving skipper Michael Hooper a happy man.

"It was a really enjoyable game. Both teams were riding waves and waves of momentum. I was glad we could wrestle it back," he said.

"We've had trouble with some of our set-pieces, particularly our scrum, so a couple of penalties there at the death was a huge boost."

They got an early breakthrough when Foley rolled through a tackle to post the first five-pointer on three minutes. But the Reds quickly hit back with giant lock Angus Blyth driving head down over the line from a scrum for his maiden Super Rugby try.

The home team grabbed another minutes later when Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi burst through two tackles and flicked a clever pass to Jock Campbell who also scored his first try in the competition.

In a free-flowing game, Michael Wells pulled one back for the ‘Tahs before Sefa Naivalu latched onto a Hegarty grubber kick for the fifth try of the half with the Reds going to the break 15-14 in front.

Three more tries came within nine minutes of the restart - two to Hegarty and one from Alex Newsome as the game came alight.

Wells got his second to inch the Waratahs in front on 53 minutes, before Alex Mafi collected a kick to the wing and ran over for the Reds' sixth try.

But three late penalties booted by Foley sealed the win.

Reds

Tries: Angus Blyth, Jock Campbell, Sefanaia Naivalu, Bryce Hegarty (2), Alex Mafi

Conversion: Hegarty

Waratahs

Tries: Bernard Foley, Michael Wells, Alex Newsome, Michael Wells

Conversions: Foley (4)

Penalties: Foley (4)

Teams:

Reds

15 Matt McGahan, 14 Jock Campbell, 13 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 12 Samu Kerevi (captain), 11 Sefa Naivalu, 10 Bryce Hegarty, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Angus Scott-Young, 7 Liam Wright, 6 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 5 Angus Blyth, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Alex Mafi, 1 JP Smith

Substitutes: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Harry Hoopert, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Caleb Timu, 21 Moses Sorovi, 22 Duncan Paia’aua, 23 Seb Wileman

Waratahs

15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Alex Newsome, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Karmichael Hunt, 11 Cam Clark, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Michael Wells, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Lachlan Swinton, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Ned Hanigan, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 1 Tom Robertson

Substitutes: 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 18 Chris Talakai, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Will Miller, 21 Jake Gordon, 22 Lalakai Foketi, 23 Curtis Rona