By Darren Walton
The Queensland Reds’ season of high hopes and promise has ended in disappointment with a 43-21 submission to the Chiefs in the opening Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final in Hamilton.
The ruthless and clinical Chiefs ran in four unanswered first-half tries to lead 31-src at the break and set up the demolition job on the Reds at FMG Stadium Waikato.
With three victories over New Zealand opposition for the first time since 2src13, including a watershed win over the defending champion Crusaders in Christchurch and round-three defeat of the Chiefs in Brisbane, the Reds truly believed they were title contenders in 2src24.
But their dreams were shattered inside 15 minutes on Friday night when the Chiefs raced to a 21-src lead through an early try-scoring double to hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho and one to winger Emoni Narawa.
Ferocious at the breakdown, the Chiefs dominated physically.
But it
…. to be continued
Read full article at the Original Source
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : The Sydney Morning Herald – https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/clinical-chiefs-end-queensland-reds-super-rugby-season-20240607-p5jk7o.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed
