Super12 2002 - Round Seven

Reds 49 defeated Stormers 46 (Brisbane)

Well done Reds. Could this finally be the monkey off your back this season? Will you now forge ahead and play the kind of dynamic, running rugby which, on paper, you should be capable of producing? In an immensely entertaining game, I'll give you ten out of ten for effort, but only five out of ten for execution. Let's just say there's room for improvement, but the attitude - at long last - seems to be right.

In the lead-up to this match, everyone was - justifiably - engaging in a little Reds bashing. For pete's sake, they were wasting Wendell, Tuney and Latham. These guys should be tearing up oppositions and scoring a fistful of tries, but they weren't seeing any quality ball. Mark Ella went so far as to say that it looked like the Reds were playing in slow motion.

Since Mark McBain took over the coaching reigns last year, the Reds have gone on record as saying that they were going to try and play more expansive rugby. Towards the end of last year's Super12, they started producing some thrilling play. But this year, the wheels appeared to have fallen off. Hence the pressure, the frustration (did anyone catch Chris Latham on Inside Rugby last week? Not happy, Jan), and the impression that Wendell was seriously starting to question just what the hell he was doing wearing a Reds jersey.

Now maybe Wendell didn't manage to score a try against the Stormers, but at least he finally, finally, finally saw a bit of decent ball, and when he was given a bit of room to move he really made an impact, repeatedly breaking the gain line and taking two or three tacklers with him. Now if we can just get him to stop dropping and fumbling the ball so much...The signs for Wendell are, overall, pretty encouraging, and I think that he will improve greatly under the tutelage of Eddie Jones.

Though this was probably a game the Reds deserved to win, it was very nearly the one that got away. (Bless you, Percy Montgomery, you truly are a special player.) The team appeared to mentally check out during the second half after scoring their fourth try, but lifted courtesy of some individual brilliance by Latham & Rauluni.

So the Reds are still in the hunt in 2002. For now. It's all for them to do, but if they can continue to back their backs, they are still a chance for this year's semi's.

- Dan Fowell