What an emphatic win for the in-form Super Rugby side from Australia, The Reds. What made this victory so much more deserving is that Ewan McKenzie, the coach and head of the Queensland-based franchise’s brain trust had a definite plan to it all. Granted, this sounds a bit strange, seeing as every one of the coaches in the competition had to have a structured plan in place. That may very well be the case, but were those plans based on correcting the errors of seasons gone by? I don’t think so!

In New Zealand, any early front runners are always competing with The Crusaders as the Canterbury outfit tend to start peaking later and later in recent years. They have the “stuff” champions are made of, so they always come back strong, as they showed again this year. They can never be written off and every year the media (in S.A. anyway) make big news of their slow starts, just to change opinion completely mid-way through the season. The other franchises in New Zealand all seem to have what it takes to win competitions on given days, but lose their way too frequently on many other outings.

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The Queensland Reds have won the 2011 Super Rugby tournament. A valiant Crusaders team seemed to just not have enough gas in the tank after a grueling season where they did more than a 100 000 miles of travelling. They lost 18 – 15 to the team from Australia in the Super Rugby final in Brisbane on Saturday.

Will Genia scored the last of two Reds’ tries in the 69th minute and that seemed to be enough. The other try was scored by Digby Ioane.

For the Crusaders Daniel Carter scored a try, a conversion and two penalties.

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The Brumbies scored a shock 22 – 14 defeat against the Australian conference leading Reds in Brisbane on Saturday.

Both sides scored a try each, but the kicking boot of Brumbies skipper Matt Giteau proved to the difference in the end.

Wallabies ace Giteau has had an indifferent 2011 season thus far, but he put that all behind him as he slotted one conversion and five penalties – the last of which came at full-time and cost the hosts that crucial losing bonus.

The Reds had a try by fullback Ben Lucas and three Quade Cooper penalties to show for their efforts but they were never contenders in a match which also saw them lose backline stars Will Genia and Digby Ioane to injuries in the second half.

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The Reds beat the struggling Vodacom Bulls by 39 – 30 on Saturday in Brisbane to extend their vicory run to six matches.

The bonus-point victory moved the Reds back to the top of the Super 15 ladder, ahead of the Crusaders on the number of wins.

They outscored the Bulls by six tries to three in a performance again orchestrated by the sublime skills of flyhalf Quade Cooper, who even added a drop-goal to his contribution on a day that his kicking was well below par.

But his off-loading skills and the manner in which he draws defenders out of line is what created four of the tries.

The only blot on what was another sublime performance for the Reds is some of the blatant cheating they are allowed to get away with. You have to wonder when referees are going to start penalising them for the manner in which they interfere with defenders off the ball, away and on the wrong side of ruck.

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The Stormers were the only unbeaten team in the Super Rugby competition until Saturday when they were taken out of their comfort zone by the Reds at Newlands.

That was the succinct summary offered by Stormers coach Allister Coetzee after the Reds put an abrupt end to his teams’s six-game unbeaten run by beating them 19-6 at Newlands on Saturday.

The decision-making of the Reds halfback pair, Quade Cooper and Will Genia, the accurate passing of Cooper in particular, and the Reds ability to turn the Stormers around by kicking the ball behind them were key factors in the Stormers first defeat at Newlands since the early season loss to the Brumbies last year.

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Vodacom Stormers 42 Crusaders 14
Vodacom Stormers – Tries: Jaque Fourie (2), Sireli Naqelevuki; Conversions: Peter Grant (3); Penalties: Grant (7).
Crusaders – Tries: Daniel Carter, Colin Slade; Conversions: Carter (2).

Vodacom Bulls 27 The Sharks 19
Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Gerhard van den Heever; Conversion: Morne Steyn; Penalties: Steyn (5).
The Sharks – Try: Rory Kockott; Conversion: Kockott; Penalties: Andy Goode (4).

Vodacom Cheetahs 36 Blues 32
Vodacom Cheetahs – Tries: Juan Smith, Jongi Nokwe, Bjorn Basson, Phillip van der Merwe, Waltie Vermeulen; Conversions: Naas Olivier (2), Meyer Bosman (2); Penalty: Olivier.
Blues – Tries: Isaia Toeava, Rene Ranger, Alby Mathewson, Anthony Tuitavake; Conversions: Stephen Brett (3); Penalties: Brett (2).

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Reds 16 Vodacom Stormers 13
Reds – Try: Will Chambers; Conversion: Quade Cooper; Penalties: Cooper (3).
Vodacom Stormers – Try: Andries Bekker; Conversion: Peter Grant; Penalties: Grant (2).

Chiefs 25 Vodacom Cheetahs 25
Chiefs – Tries: Colin Bourke, Hika Elliot, Toby Smith, Dwayne Sweeney, Liam Messam.
Vodacom Cheetahs – Tries: Devon Raubenheimer, WP Nel, Meyer Bosman; Conversions: Naas Olivier (2); Penalties: Olivier (2).

Vodacom Bulls 51 Auto & General Lions 11
Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Gerhard van den Heever (2), Derick Kuün, Morné Steyn, Wynand Olivier, John Mametsa; Conversions: Morné Steyn (3); Penalties: Steyn (5).
Auto & General Lions – Try: Wandile Mjekevu; Penalties: Herkie Kruger (2).

The Sharks 23 Blues 10
Scorers: The Sharks – Tries: Ruan Pienaar; Penalties: Pienaar (4), Kockott (2).
Blues – Tries: Peter Saili; Conversion: Stephen Brett; Penalty: Brett.

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