Pick me Eddie: McReight stakes Wallabies claim to lead Reds to crucial win over Force

Fraser McReight has laid down the marker ahead of the Reds’ home clash against Michael Hooper’s Waratahs, starring in his side’s important win over the Western Force in Brisbane.

Hooper’s heir apparent was brilliant on Saturday, scoring a double and being denied twice too.

But more than his two tries was his work across the field in the loose, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

Where Hooper struggled to get his hands on the ball against the Highlanders on Friday night, McReight stole balls clean from the deck and constantly timed his attack on the exposed ball like a seagull to a chip.

That’s not to say Hooper was poor. Far from it, in fact. But McReight was easily the Reds’ best and continually influenced the course of the game like he has for two years.

McReight’s first-half double set up the match, with the Reds opening up a 21-5 lead at half-time.

While the Force managed to score first in the second half through captain Michael Wells, another missed conversion from Bryce Hegarty hurt the visitors’ chances of exerting pressure on the Reds.

Think quick

A quick tap from Tate McDermott sets up Fraser McReight under the sticks!#REDvFOR #CultureRound #SuperRugbyPacific pic.twitter.com/w8tCGEyjvs

— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) April 29, 2023

After surviving a number of attacking raids, the Force’s hopes were all but gone when debutant prop George Blake crashed over in the 65th minute in what proved to be the telling blow.

While the Force never went away and flying English winger Zach Kibirige scored a runaway try, a poor scrum, an ability to turnover over possession on the deck and a pressured lineout meant the Reds grabbed a crucial four points.

Reds skipper Liam Wright was naturally delighted by the hard fought win.

“The first half was pretty nice,” he said.

“We stuck to our game plan a bit more, we didn’t put them away to the sword but that’s credit to the Force, they really stick in there and really score a lot of their points in that last 20 based on fitness and having a real crack.

“We’ll take a win against a classy side.”

Force skipper Michael Wells lamented his side’s discipline, where they were smashed up front at the scrum without key Test front-row trio Tom Robertson, Folau Fainga’a and Santiago Medrano.

“I probably have to moderate myself a little bit because it hurts. I really don’t like losing and we don’t come to lose,” he said.

“Discipline hurt us again. We started really good, scored early points, but they got back in the game by giving away penalties. That was the same story last week, so our discipline is the thing hurting us the most.”

More to come…