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March 16, 2008 - 4:06PM
The maturing Western Force and rookie Queensland Reds have basked in watershed weekends, celebrating their most cherished wins in the Super 14.
The Force marked themselves as genuine finals contenders thanks to a second-half comeback to upset the Blues 27-17 for a maiden victory in New Zealand.
The West Australians' best result in their short history was poised to be the talking point of round five before Queensland pulled off the biggest turnaround ever in Super rugby.
Demolished by a record 92-3 by the Bulls in South Africa in last season's final round, the youthful Reds crossed for five tries in a stunning 40-8 boilover at Suncorp Stadium.
It marked a 121-point turnaround, which is unlikely to ever be repeated, and was the competition battlers' first four-ty bonus-point since 2006.
"All we've been hearing about is 92-3 and Pretoria since last year so we wanted payback," said jubilant coach Phil Mooney, rewarded for a host of changes including stripping the captaincy from close friend John Roe.
The performances of youngsters Quade Cooper, Tasi Luafutu, Dayna Edwards, Charlie Fetoai and Scott Higginbotham, who pole-axed Springbok speedster Bryan Habana in his first play, gave spark and energy missing from three ugly defeats.
"I felt it was certainly a defining moment for the team in terms of their evolution and in terms of the season," Mooney said.
Under-fire old-stagers Chris Latham and Morgan Turinui both scored a try each in their best performances of the season.
The Force's three-tries-to-two win propelled John Mitchell's men to fifth (15), one point out of the top four, while the Reds (10) stay alive in eighth before a three-week trip to South Africa.
The `Super Saturday' performances also delivered swift backhanders to critics after being spurred on by match-day newspaper columns from Australian rugby identities Eddie Jones and Mark Ella.
Former Test skipper Ella highlighted the Force's inability to put an opponent away while Jones, who coached the Reds to their worst ever season last year, attacked the Reds coaching, play and selections.
The Blues were Sunday breathing a sigh of relief as playmaker Nick Evans appears to have suffered no more than a mild concussion in a first-half "friendly fire" collision with Nick Williams.
Evans' loss was a deflating blow to the Aucklanders as the Force then scored 20 unanswered points.
NSW's early bye saw the Waratahs (13) slip out of the top four but they will be fresh for an assault on the unbeaten tournament favourites, the Crusaders, who outclass the Cheetahs 55-7.
The Robbie Deans-coached Cantabrians (24) hold a three-point advantage over the only other undefeated side, the Durban-based Sharks, who overcame the Lions 16-8 in the wet in Johannesburg.
Queensland are equal on points (10) with the Brumbies who were overwhelmed 33-15 at home by the Hurricanes who jumped to third with their fourth straight win.
Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher has flagged a number of changes for Friday night's match against the Cheetahs, who he suspected ran dead against the Crusaders to target the Canberra clash.
Key forwards Guy Shepherdson (hamstring) and lock Al Campbell (knee) are both racing to be back from injury while hooker Saia Fiangaa and halfback Patrick Phibbs are in the firing line.
Form fullback Mark Gerrard demanded the injury-riddled Brumbies lift their spirits after back-to-back losses.
"It can't be like a morgue out there like it was (Friday night)," he said.
© 2008 AAP
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Originally Posted by sloppy
