The Reds made hard work of their 35-20 victory over the Western Force in a match they should have coasted after establishing a convincing lead before letting David Pocock's men back into the contest.
The match started in the pouring rain in Queensland, making conditions difficult for in a match full off needless handling errors from both sides.
The Reds looked to be in complete control and cruised through the majority of the first half and into a 26-6 lead at one stage.
However, the Force never gave up and battled their way back into the match as the Reds lost their concentration and both their defence and scrum disintegrated.
The Reds let the Force back into the match with some awful to defending to allow two soft tries from the Perth side.
The home side were able to slow things down and keep a safe breathing distance thanks to the unfaltering boot of Mike Harris.
More to follow...
Man of the Match: Force flanks Matt Hodgson and David Pocock caused all kinds of problems at the breakdown, but the star of the show was the Reds' general Will Genia, without whom the Queensland side could easily have lost this match.
Scorers:
For Reds:
Tries: Tapuai, Samo
Cons: Harris 2
Pens: Harris 7
For Western Force:
Tries: Pocock, Stannard
Cons: Stannard 2
Pens: Stannard 2
Teams:
Reds: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Jono Lance, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Mike Harris, 9 Will Genia, 8 Radike Samo, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Jake Schatz, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 Albert Anae, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Van Humphries, 19 Liam Gill, 20 Eddie Quirk, 21 Ben Lucas, 22 Rod Davies.
Force: 15 Alfie Mafi, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Patrick Dellit, 12 Winston Stanley, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 James Stannard, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock (captain), 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Ben Whittaker, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Phoenix Battye, 19 Angus Cottrell, 20 Ben Seymour, 21 Rory Sidey, 22 Sam Wara.
Referee: Ian Smith (Australia)
By Timmy Hancox
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