Australia’s hopes of two trans-Tasman wins in Super Round have been denied by a whisker, as the Hurricanes beat the Reds 38-33 in golden point at Melbourne’s AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon.
In a cracking, tit-for-tat clash where the margin was no greater than seven points at any time, Cam Roigard’s second try and some fantastic goal-line defence with Jordie Barrett sitting in the sin bin sent the match into extra time.
The Reds were pinned in their half for most of golden point, before Tom Lynagh sensed an opportunity to counter from a poor kick chase and managed to get Les Kiss’ side into the Hurricanes territory.
But a controversial penalty to the Hurricanes for failing to release allowed the men from Wellington to get a set-piece inside the Reds’ territory and they made it count as Pasilio Tosi, the giant replacement tight-head prop, barged his way over out wide.
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Pasilio Tosi of the Hurricanes celebrates scoring the game’s winning try in golden point against the Queensland Reds at AAMI Park, on March 03, 2024, in Melbourne. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
Making the moment harder to swallow was that the man who failed to release, Cormac Daly, was tackled by Veveni Lasaqa when the replacement loose forward was still retreating from an offside position.
Co-captain Liam Wright lamented the “moments” the Reds let slip following Barrett’s upgraded red card for a high shot on Jordie Petaia in the 56th minute that meant the Hurricanes were down to 14 men for 20 minutes.
“Credit to the Hurricanes, they fought really hard,” Wright said.
“With a man down they went to a really smart game-plan, kept putting us back in our corners and capitalised at the end there. I’ve got nothing but respect for them.
“I thought our boys showed a lot of heart tonight. We spoke about trying to get a little bit better. In certain areas we were. I thought our maul and scrum performed really well.
“You can’t fault the heart in this team, but we’ll have to lick our wounds and look at moments that cost us there.”
The Queensland Reds look dejected after losing in golden point to the Hurricanes at AAMI Park, on March 03, 2024, in Melbourne. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
Kiss agreed the Reds missed too many chances during regular time.
“Yeah, that’s the story,” he said on Stan Sport. “I don’t think we lost it in the extra time, we didn’t win it in the 80. They’re a tough team to play.”