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Injury scare as Beauden Barrett limps off during Blues’ win over Reds
By AAP
Beauden Barrett spun a web around the Queensland Reds before limping off as the Blues inflicted a 45-26 win in Brad Thorn's last game as coach at Suncorp Stadium.
The Reds were the first team to beat the Chiefs all season last week, ending a 10-year losing streak in New Zealand behind dogged defence and disciplined attack.
But that disappeared in Brisbane on Friday, the Reds missing 31 tackles as the Blues ran in six tries to four and moved into fourth on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder.
It left the Reds in seventh and in danger of missing finals in Thorn's last season in charge, games away to the Highlanders and Fijian Drua to finish the regular season potentially both must-wins for them to remain in the frame.
Barrett's terrific short ball to Cameron Suafoa led to fullback Zarn Sullivan's first try and the No.10 scored the second himself.
The hosts couldn't bend the Blues' defensive line in the first half but were still right in it when Sef Fa'agase scored to make it a three-point game at the break.
Fraser McReight was then metres from the line when he knocked on looking to dive over, flying winger Mark Telea running 60m and grubbering for Barrett.
Barrett couldn't ground it and then limped off with a sore foot, the All Blacks talent joining five other Blues Test stars already on the sidelines as part of designated World Cup rest.
It didn't disrupt the Blues, Patrick Tuipulotu barging over from the next play to create the crucial buffer.
Fullback Sullivan took over the playmaking duties with aplomb to set up Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens.
Harry Wilson stretched out to score and make it 31-19 with 11 minutes to play but Telea had the reply from the restart to snuff out any hopes of a comeback.
Liam Wilson continued his good form to set up Josh Flook's first try but the Reds' set piece lacked punch and halfback Tate McDermott and fullback Jock Campbell were without the sparkle they showed in New Plymouth a week earlier.
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Latest Comments
that’s true, but that doesn’t constitute a “stop-start” career.
Under Eddie Jones Stuart was consistently 2nd choice. Under Borthwick Stuart is now 1st choice, but for a while was 3rd choice. That’s arguably more stop-start.
Go to commentsYou can take the boy out of Queensland but you can’t take the Queensland out of the boy 😀.
Thor is getting paid very nicely by the Tahs but to expect him to turn against Queensland was always fantasy. He’s just pretending to be a fake Tah.
Taniela is human and a deeply emotional one. Trying to turn him in to a traitor is just typical Tah arrogance and hubris. After all, a Tah would have no problem with it. Look at Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale …..
Seru Uru is fantastic and is just growing and growing. Almost Fardy like which is probably the highest compliment you could pay him. Schmidt will ignore him because he represents a serious threat to the All Blacks.
If Schmidt doesn’t get some serious wins this year, Australian rugby and the Tahs would have wasted another couple of years and another couple of million Australian rugby dollars on another hopeless kiwi, when we could have been giving a real Australian coach some invaluable experience.
I don’t think Schmidt will be able to handle the pressure and will crumble and become completely irrational in his selections and tactics just like Deans and Rennie did.
Or he could be like every other kiwi who has failed in Australia and say, it wasn’t my fault !
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