Reds hold off Blues fightback
Queensland Reds moved to the top of the Super 15 standings with a 37-31 victory over Auckland Blues on Friday.
Last Updated: 14/05/11 10:23am
Queensland Reds moved to the top of the Super 15 standings with a 37-31 victory over Auckland Blues in Brisbane on Friday.
The Blues who were 24-0 down after 30 minutes, fought back to get within three points of the lead with 20 minutes to go.
But they were unable to prevent the hosts leapfrogging their New Zealand rivals to go top of the table in a pulsating encounter at the Suncorp Stadium.
The Reds dominated possession as they forced the pace from the start and quickly raced into a commanding lead.
Quade Cooper, hooker Saia Faingaa and blindside flanker Scott Higginbotham all touched down in the first half-hour to put Queensland 24-0 up.
But blindside flanker Chris Lowrey and replacement Lachie Munro both hit back for the Blues and Luke McAlister converted to make it 24-14.
Difficult
Cooper though, added a penalty on the stroke of half-time to take his side into the break with a 13 point lead.
A break from Auckland fly-half Stephen Brett soon after the restart saw Alby Mathewson go over for his side's third try to reduce the deficit.
And McAlister booted a 58th minute penalty to make it 27-24 but replacement hooker James Hanson charged down a Brett clearance kick to score and re-establish the buffer.
Cooper restored the hosts' 10-point advantage with his conversion then slotted a third penalty to make it 37-24 with 11 minutes remaining.
The Blues continued to batter away at the Queensland line but they could not find a way through until Rene Ranger crossed late to make sure of the two bonus points.
