The Queensland Reds are at the top of the Super Rugby ladder for the first time in 2025 – hanging on in a brutal arm wrestle against the Western Force at Suncorp Stadium – with Tom Lynagh, Seru Uru and Filipo Daugunu once again staking their Wallaby claims.
The 28-24 thriller saw a game of two halves, with both sides going a point a minute in a frenetic first half, before the second half saw a dogged display between the two packs, with tensions threatening to boil over of several occasions.
Conditions in Brisbane were extremely wet, with the Sunshine State copping record rainfall that has made its way through the southeast of the state the last few days – but the conditions didn’t stop the running rugby.
The hosts got on the board inside of the first four minutes thanks to Filipo Daugunu channelling his inner forward to burrow over the line – but the Force struck back two minutes when prop Tom Robertson channelled his inner back, scoring a long-range try to get the visitors square – despite concerns of a forward pass early in the attacking phase.
The Reds would get back ahead just five minutes later, with a stunning long-range effort of their own down the left wing seeing Hermania Murray score in the corner.
The Force turned to their set piece and were rewarded shortly afterwards with a rolling maul try to Carlo Tizzano – his ninth of the season – to get the Force back square again, 14-14.
Tom Lynagh enjoyed a strong clash, but a piece of individual brilliance in the 24th minute saw the young Wallaby flyhalf produce a stunning flick pass, with Dre Pakeho ultimately the benefactor, scoring his first ever Super Rugby try.
However, the Force’s disciplined approach at set piece made inroads – particularly at the lineout, with the side picking off nine opposition throws over the course of the match. After repeated infringements on their own line, referee Ben O’Keefe lost patience with the Reds, sending Alex Hodgman for ten – with Carlo Tizzano scoring his second of the night off the maul shortly afterwards.
It was his tenth try of the 2025 season – becoming the first player ever at the Force to score ten tries in a season.
The visitors managed to dominate the possession and territory but were unable to progress any further – with the sides going in 21-all at halftime.
The seconds half saw conditions worsen – and a battle of the forward packs play out for the first twenty minutes – with the Reds dominating the scrum and the Force continuing their dominance at the lineout.
Eventually, the Force broke the deadlock in the 58th minute, with Ben Donaldson scoring a penalty to have the visitors ahead for the first time. A lifting tackle ten minutes later saw the Reds down to 14 men, and an upset looked on the cards.
However, the hosts scrum was beginning to whittle the Force down, and several penalties eventually saw the Reds turn to a rolling maul of their own – with Tate McDermott beating his opposite number to score what would be the decisive try.
The Force were not done yet, throwing everything at the Reds in the closing stages and making it to the hosts 22, hoping to recreate their round one heroics against Moana Pasifika – but a well-timed rip from reserve Angus Blyth proved the difference.
Speaking after the match, Lachie Anderson admitted the unusual weather conditions did throw several spanners in the works, but commended his side’s ability to tackle the Force’s weaknesses.
Seru Uru enjoyed a strong outing for the Reds. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
“Hot, humid, rain. We won pretty ugly there,” the Reds’ back admitted.
“Good teams have to do that. The Force put us under incredible pressure tonight. Full credit to them, they had a great 80-minute performance.
“Pre-game we spoke about how nights like tonight are about effort – doing it for us, doing it for each other. Our defence really took a step up tonight.”
Darcy Swain admitted that while the match saw a strong performance, another close loss to the Reds after a loss by the same margin at home was a frustrating one to take.
“We knew we had to come out here, we just weren’t good enough tonight,” said the Force lock.
“Just little moments that we lost – and the Reds stacked up more than us.”
Force skipper Jeremy Williams echoed Swain’s sentiments, admitting there were a lot of positives in the performance.
“We stayed in the fight a lot, but our ruck security wasn’t that good at times.
“To go down by four points at Suncorp is pretty disappointing.”
However, despite the loss, the Force picking up a losing bonus point will mean the West Australian side reclaims the sixth spot from the Hurricanes – meaning all Aussie sides will spend another week in the top of the ladder.
Meanwhile, the Reds overtake the Chiefs at the top of the Super Rugby ladder – the first time an Aussie side has led the ladder this year and the first time in 13 years the Reds have been top of the Super Rugby ladder.
“We had to work for it,” said Reds coach Les Kiss in the post-match interview.
“The boys have ticker. Two yellow cards in the first half the odds were against us in both position and possession – we turned that around in the second half, and we had to shift a few things.
“Just think the boys really turned up and really showed their heart.”
