The Queensland Reds were left to rue costly mistakes after falling 49-19 to the NSW Waratahs in their trial at Ballymore Stadium.
The Reds gave up three long-range tries from two intercepts and a spilled pass, learning a timely lesson on the value of execution.
An upbeat crowd of 3,218 turned out on a sunny afternoon to lap up the Reds’ final hit-out before they meet their old foes again on February 13 in Sydney in the opening round of the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific.
The value of the trial was getting match minutes into 30 players, with the Reds running an extended 15-man bench.
Reds head coach Les Kiss was to the point post-match, saying there is plenty to work on and the Waratahs played them off the park in quite a few areas.
He says their maul was strong when it needed to be, but their execution was poor at times.
Kiss identified excellent moments but says stitching together a strong 80 minutes will be the training focus in the coming weeks.
Source: rugby.com.au
