Cheetahs 10 Reds 31
Reds first-five Quade Cooper continued his roller-coaster form by managing to be hero and villain in this convincing win by the Queenslanders to start their tour of South Africa well yesterday.
It was the first Reds win in Bloemfontein and the first time since 2006 they have won more than three games in a season.
Better than that, they sat at fifth on the Super 14 table after their win, perhaps made a little easier by the absence of the Cheetahs' star player, Springbok loosie Juan Smith, for personal reasons.
However, it took a while for the Reds' resurgence to take root against the Cheetahs.
Cooper's lunatic trip of a player attempting a quick tap in the first half saw him sin-binned and the Cheetahs punished the indiscretion when No 8 Ashley Johnson powered through the first five-eighth channel to score the Cheetahs' only try.
But if Cooper righted matters later, he wouldn't have been able to do so without a fine performance from Reds halfback Will Genia.
With Cooper off the field, Genia took the goalkicking duties on - successfully - and scored a try by nipping through the Cheetahs defence after good Reds pressure at the rucks and mauls, recycling the ball.
Genia ran and passed well and marshalled his men superbly - a good display of 'follow me' leadership. Centre Digby Ioane was another stand-out, making more breaks than anyone, always proving elusive and creative.
For all that, however, the Reds trailled close to halftime before Cooper returned to kick a key penalty, giving them the lead at the break, and the visitors took control in the second half to rack up 20 unanswered points.
Cooper also redeemed himself straight after halftime with another penalty and the vital passage of play came when hooker Saia Faingaa turned over ball, galloped 50 metres and was supported by several Reds forwards.
When they won a penalty in front of the posts, fullback Peter Hynes tapped and dummied over.
New coach Ewen McKenzie has done a good job with the Reds this year, particularly up front.
The Reds lineout and scrum are solid, loose forwards Daniel Braid and Scott Higginbotham are playing well and the backs are beginning to spark.
Cheetahs 10 (A. Johnson try; N. Olivier con, M. Bosman pen), Reds 31 (W. Genia, P. Hynes, D. Ioane tries; Q. Cooper 2 cons, 3 pens; Genia pen). Halftime: 10-11.
