The Queensland Reds might have been billed as the Australian team to watch this season, but the ACT Brumbies delivered a timely reminder of their quality after a 39-26 come-from-behind win in Brisbane on Saturday night.
While the Reds shot out to a 14-0 lead after some lovely movement in wet conditions, things quickly went awry for Les Kiss’ side as the Brumbies stormed back and took a 21-14 lead into half-time.
Although the Reds responded to Kiss’ animated address at half-time, the Brumbies continued to flex their muscles and ground the home side into the wet, muddy turf by scoring two quick tries through hooker Billy Pollard.
A long-range penalty from Ryan Lonergan then gave the visitors a 15-point lead in the 73rd minute, before both sides finished with two exciting tries.
The Brumbies celebrate after defeating the Reds at Suncorp Stadium on April 12, 2025. (Photo by Chloe Davis/Getty Images)
The 13-point win saw the Brumbies leapfrog the Reds into third position, while the defeat was a dagger in the heart of Kiss’ side in their quest for a top-two finish in the season.
“Each time we scored we exited poorly,” a frustrated Kiss said.
“We always measure time in the opposition 22, we had two minutes in the game and they had eight minutes. We gifted too many opportunities for them to advance the game.
“I’ve got to take my hat off to the Brumbies. They were very disciplined in what they did and, eventually, the pressure turned into points.
“The Brumbies came here with a good plan and they were nice and fresh, and they played that way.
“I thought once we made a couple of errors we probably got a little bit down on ourselves. We went away from the style that we like to play. But you’ve got to give credit to the Brumbies.”
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham was hardly popping the champagne, but the Wallabies great was a content man at full-time having seen his side execute brilliantly after missing the jump early on.
“I think conditions played a part in tonight’s game,” the former playmaker said.
“We certainly have a game-plan that is suited to wet weather, we’re pretty good at putting up a contestable, chasing and putting pressure at the breakdown, and the Reds kick long and adapting to the conditions was probably hard for them.”
The win did come at a cost for the Brumbies though, with Larkham confirming that Test loosehead prop Blake Schoupp had snapped his Achilles.
“He’s been in a really good form this year,” Larkham said.
“He took a bit of extra weight when the scrum went backward and tried to push forward and felt it. That’s a lengthy recovery for him.”
Classy centre Len Ikitau will also miss next week’s clash against Moana Pasifika after being knocked out cold in the opening minutes after a nasty head knock.
While the defeat will make Kiss’ hopes of finishing in the top two all the more difficult, whether it has bigger ramifications remains to be seen for the favourite to succeed Joe Schmidt.
Not for the first time this season, the Reds’ attack at all costs game-plan came unstuck.
Although it looked silky in the opening stages, the Brumbies won the game because they dominated up front and won the collisions.
The Reds meanwhile went missing after the opening 20 minutes as Rob Valetini rolled his sleeves up and barged the front door down.
The Test star was well supported by his tight-five teammates, while Lonergan and Ollie Sapsford were excellent for the visitors.
“We were really good in the first 15-20 minutes, then we were just really loose,” said Reds skipper Tate McDermott, who was bitterly disappointed after losing in his 100th Super Rugby match.
“We were almost trying to defend our 14-point lead.
“That’s the disappointing thing. We always talk about being fast and hard and we went away from those two key principles that got us the points in the first place.
“Les was obviously animated, and as he should have been. We were off our game and we needed something.
“You’ve got to give credit to the Brumbies, they’re very good at what they do. Every time we had a bit of momentum, they snuffed it out.”
The Reds had a couple who stood up, with Hunter Paisami scoring a marvellous opening try. His midfield partner Dre Pakeho also had a good battle with the Brumbies’ David Feliaui and Sapsford.
But they were let down by too many casual moments, including a head-scratching spilt ball into touch from Tom Lynagh when the rising No.10 could have easily left a Noah Lolesio clearing kick from a mark inside his 22-metre line go into touch.
Ultimately, the Reds’ 21 errors to the Brumbies’ 15 proved costly.
Blake Schoupp suffered a season-ending Achilles injury during the Brumbies’ win over the Reds at Suncorp Stadium. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Early on the Reds looked like bouncing back against the Chiefs as they raced out to a 14-0 lead.
The home side were helped by some woeful handling from the Brumbies, who couldn’t catch a cold early.
But the Brumbies found some confidence when Valetini barged over Tim Ryan first-phase from a lineout and scored.
The visitors were denied once when the impressive Nick Frost spilt the ball over the line, but there was no stopping Allan Alaalatoa soon after as the Brumbies captain continued his impressive tryscoring form.
The Brumbies then took the lead when Tuaina Taii Tualima scored under the posts to give the visitors all the momentum heading into half-time.
Kiss then let rip, pointing at his head and tugging at his shirt as he called on his team to make one big push ahead of next week’s bye.
“I’ll tell you what, Les Kiss is not happy,” said Wallabies great Tim Horan on Stan Sport. “I haven’t seen him this animated in a long time. He’s absolutely giving it to his players.”
It initially worked as Richie Asiata crossed for his second try.
But then the Brumbies gave the Reds a piece of their own medicine as Pollard got on the end of two rolling mauls to score.
Lonergan’s long-range penalty then ensured the Brumbies would be leaving Brisbane with the chocolates, before Pakeho and Corey Toole scored at the death.
