Kids a big winner from QR Reds record-breaking win

The QR Reds’ 50-10 win over the Western Force at Suncorp Stadium not only broke the record for their biggest win of the modern era, it also earned $12,200 for the St. George Foundation and its program of assisting under-privileged kids.

The Foundation was the charity beneficiary of yesterday’s “Juniors Day” match and Reds’ sponsor St. George Bank led the way with a promise to donate an amount based on the number of tries and goals scored by the Reds.

Their seven tries, six conversions and a penalty added up to $12,200 going to the Foundation.

The Reds’ 40 point winning margin was their largest in the Super 12-14 era and - coming on the heels of their 23-18 defeat of the Chiefs last week – was their first back-to-back win since April 2006.

The 20,016 vocal fans that braved the wet weather for the match were rewarded with some enterprising rugby in the opening half, with the Queenslanders scoring five tries to lead 36-3 by halftime.

Flyhalf Quade Cooper continued his remarkable opening to the year and played a major role in giving the Reds a four-try bonus point after just 33 minutes, while inside centre Anthony Faingaa and scrumhalf Will Genia also played strongly on the back of a dominant forward display.

Faingaa, Digby Ioane and Scott Higginbotham each grabbed a pair of tries, but it was the five-pointer finished by wing Luke Morahan that was most impressive. Genia ignited a movement that went through a further five sets of hands – Laurie Weeks, Leroy Houston, Peter Hynes, Faingaa and Ioane – before Morahan dotted down in the corner.

Although rain fell periodically throughout the second half, the Reds still managed to add to their lead with two tries to Higginbotham.

“Before we went out we spoke about wanting to set the tone early and we definitely did that,” Genia said afterwards.

“It’s an outstanding effort for the boys. We spoke about wanting to be consistent, and getting back-to back wins is all about being consistent. When we had our foot on their throats we kept going.”

McKenzie praised the Reds efforts in defence, which missed just six tackles and allowed only one try, and their ability to disrupt the Force’s ball at the lineout.

“Defence is a good indication of attitude and we’ve been talking about that a lot. To be fair I think they (the players) are enjoying the fact that they’re getting some sort of recognition for their efforts there,” McKenzie said.

“We are getting to play off the back of the errors we are forcing too, which is important. We created some great tries in attack and some first phase tries, but we also scored some good tries through our defence.”

McKenzie said he was thrilled the team was playing above the public’s preseason expectations and said he was eager to continue giving fans something to be excited about.

“Our start has been good and no one, except for our group, predicted we would be where we are right now. And we’ve now got a great opportunity to keep going. We’re not fighting for credibility at the end of season; we’ve got a great opportunity to push forward,” he said.

“The important thing today, coming off the Chiefs result (23-18 win), is that we’ve managed to turn some of the public opinion around. It’s important that the fan base re-engages with the team and we re-engage with them.

“So I’m quite pleased we had an emphatic result and have left the fans in good spirits, and with plenty of time to buy tickets next time we’re here.”

The Reds have a bye next weekend before jetting off to South Africa on a three game tour.

The Reds are handily placed just outside the four going into the bye, but McKenzie said the team focus remained solely on their South Africa assignment, where they meet the Cheetahs, Sharks and Lions.

“We’ve never talked about ladder position and we haven’t talked about number of wins, and we won’t be talking about that. We want to be a competitive team week in and week out, and we are in that space.

“We’ve got a difficult tour coming up. We’re going to South Africa with a bunch of young guys having their first trip and we’ve seen plenty of good teams fall over there already. We won’t take anything for granted.

“We just want to make sure we can reproduce. We’ve got two (wins in a row) and now we’ve got to aim for three wins (in a row).”

Queensland withheld an early onslaught before a perfectly weighted kick from Cooper and an enthusiastic chase from Morahan reversed the momentum and gave the Reds their first good attacking chance of the match.

Anthony Faingaa ensured they wouldn’t go away empty handed, breaking a one-on-one tackle to put the Reds up 7-0 after eight minutes. This was followed minutes later with the try to Morahan.

A penalty goal from Force inside centre James O’Connor couldn’t stop the Reds’ momentum and in the 16th minute Ioane put the Reds ahead 19-3. A turnover from Houston led to an almost length of the field movement, with Ioane recovering a deft Cooper chip-kick near halfway, before beating one defender on his way to the line.

Two sublime touches from Cooper - a pinpoint inside ball to Ioane and short ball to Faingaa - gave the Reds two more tries and a 36-3 lead heading into the sheds at halftime.

Flanker Daniel Braid suffered a slight medial ligament strain in the second half but with the bye next week is expected to be fit for South Africa .

QR Reds 50 (Digby Ioane 2, Anthony Faingaa 2, Scott Higginbotham 2, Luke Morahan tries, Quade Cooper 5 cons, pen, Ben Lucas con) def Force 10 (Nick Cummins try, James O’Connor con, pen)