Beauden Barrett kicked a penalty in the 84th minute to seal a dramatic 36–33 Super Point victory for the Blues over the Queensland Reds at One NZ Stadium, after Louis Werchon’s try on the siren had levelled the scores at 33-all in a breathless conclusion to ANZAC Day’s Super Round double-header.
Key moments
7 mins – TRY BLUES: Beauden Barrett dices through the defence and sets up Zarn Sullivan, who ghosts into space and goes all the way from 30 metres out. Barrett converts. (Blues 7–0 Reds)
10 mins – TRY REDS: Anton Segner is penalised at the breakdown inside the 22, and the Reds tap quickly. Fraser McReight crashes over by the left post. Harry McLaughlin-Phillips converts. (Blues 7–7 Reds)
15 mins – TRY BLUES: Barrett’s high kick is batted back by Kade Banks, and Sam Darry scoops it up on the half volley before whipping a 25-metre pass out to Cole Forbes on the left wing. Forbes charges away to score in the corner. Barrett converts. (Blues 14–7 Reds)
18 mins – SPIDERCAM INCIDENT: A Finlay Christie box kick hits the spidercam wire above the field. Play continues briefly before referee James Doleman brings it back for a Blues scrum.
24 mins – TRY BLUES: The lineout drive is collapsed by Seru Uru, and under penalty advantage Bradley Slater carries towards the line. Barrett then delivers flat to Zarn Sullivan, who beats Filipo Daugunu on the outside and slices in for his second. Barrett converts. (Blues 21–7 Reds)
32 mins – TRY REDS: The Reds spot space down a narrow short side. Jock Campbell stands on the touchline and shovels back inside to Harry Wilson, who crashes through Sullivan to score in the corner. Harry McLaughlin-Phillips converts from the sideline. (Blues 21–14 Reds)
36 mins – TRY REDS: Hunter Paisami and Filipo Daugunu make half-breaks to get the Reds inside the 22. Fraser McReight and Wilson carry strongly through the middle before the ball reaches the right edge where the Blues are short. Jock Campbell darts in. McLaughlin-Phillips converts to level the scores. (Blues 21–21 Reds)
Half-time: Blues 21–21 Reds. The Blues looked in excellent touch early, racing to a 21–7 lead through Sullivan’s double and Forbes’ try. But the Reds roared back with two late tries from Wilson and Campbell to level proceedings. The forward packs were evenly matched, with the contest boiling down to kicking accuracy and individual moments.
43 mins – TRY BLUES: Straight from the lineout, Bradley Slater peels around the back to crash ahead. Quick ball is delivered and Dalton Papali’i picks and bursts through the fringes of the breakdown, sliding over the line. Barrett converts. (Blues 28–21 Reds)
46 mins – THOMAS HELD UP: Kalani Thomas snipes around the fringes and palms his way through, but Finlay Christie makes a try-saving tackle and Thomas drops the ball reaching for the line.
57 mins – FORBES DENIED: Cole Forbes sprints down the left sideline and looks certain to score, but Tim Ryan produces an outstanding cover tackle to bundle him into touch.
63 mins – TRY BLUES: The Blues maul rumbles forward after Sam Darry’s lineout take. Bradley Slater controls the ball and is driven over the line. Barrett’s conversion misses. (Blues 33–21 Reds)
69 mins – DOUBLE CHARGE DOWN: Louis Werchon and Tim Ryan both charge down Blues clearing kicks in quick succession. Nick Bloomfield races for the loose ball but cannot win the foot race. Goal-line dropout.
75 mins – TRY REDS: Ben Volavola makes an incisive run off the scrum, and the Reds sweep right. Treyvon Pritchard slices through a gap and flicks a backhanded pass to Jock Campbell, who positions Tim Ryan back on the inside to score in the corner. Volavola’s conversion from the sideline misses. (Blues 33–26 Reds)
80 mins – TRY REDS: The Reds march downfield from the lineout drive with penalty advantage. Ben Volavola is stopped inches from the line, but Louis Werchon dives over by the posts. Volavola converts to level the scores on the siren. (Blues 33–33 Reds)
SUPER POINT
84 mins – PENALTY BLUES: The Blues build 18 phases in the Reds’ half before Fraser McReight is penalised for incorrect entry at the breakdown. Beauden Barrett slots the kick from 25 metres to win it. (Blues 36–33 Reds)
Full-time: Blues 36–33 Reds (after Super Point)
Match report
If Super Rugby Pacific needed further proof that its Super Point format can deliver high drama, it got it in spades on ANZAC Day night. Beauden Barrett’s penalty three minutes into extra time sealed a 36–33 victory for the Blues over the Queensland Reds, but this was a contest the Blues should never have allowed to reach that point — and the Reds will feel they deserved more for a comeback that twice hauled them back from 14-point deficits.
The Blues had led 21–7 and then 33–21 with 15 minutes to play, and both times the Reds responded with a fury that left Vern Cotter’s men scrambling. It was the third straight win for a New Zealand side over Australian opposition inside 24 hours at One NZ Stadium, solidifying a ladder now occupied by Kiwi sides from first to fourth.
Zarn Sullivan set the tone early. The Blues fullback, listed at 1.93 metres and close to 100 kilograms, used his long stride to devastating effect, scoring twice inside the opening 24 minutes. His first came after Barrett drifted towards the short side to create an extra man and flicked a sweet pass that sent Sullivan ghosting through from 30 metres. His second was more direct — a flat transfer from Barrett and Sullivan crunched through Daugunu’s attempted tackle to slice in.
Between Sullivan’s tries, Sam Darry proved an unlikely playmaker, scooping a batted-down high ball on the half volley and whipping an audacious 25-metre cutout pass to Forbes on the left wing. Forbes tiptoed down the sideline to score in the corner and at 21–7, the Blues looked in total command.
But the Reds refused to fold. Wallabies captain Harry Wilson scored after Barrett was bundled into touch inside his own 22, and Campbell waltzed in from an overlap to make it 21-all at the break. Lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was at the heart of both scores, bumping off bodies with his trademark physicality in what would be an 11-carry, 17-tackle night.
Papali’i’s powerful burst from the breakdown restored the Blues’ lead early in the second half, and Christie’s try-saving tackle on Thomas — dragging the halfback down as he reached for the line — proved a crucial moment. When Slater was driven over from the maul in the 63rd minute, the Blues led 33–21 and looked safe.
They were anything but. Ryan’s spectacular diving finish in the corner — set up by a backhanded flick from replacement Treyvon Pritchard — made it a seven-point game with five minutes remaining. Then came the decisive sequence: Volavola kicked deep into Blues territory, Ryan’s chase forced a penalty, and the Reds mauled close to the line before Werchon burrowed over by the posts. Volavola’s conversion levelled it at 33-all on the siren.
In Super Point, the Blues had the advantage of the kick-off as first try scorers, and they used it. They camped in the Reds’ half for 18 phases before McReight was penalised for incorrect entry at the ruck. The Reds captain questioned the decision, arguing the ball had spilled out during the play, but Barrett was never going to miss from 25 metres.
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu, watching from the sideline after being replaced, summed up the rollercoaster: “Probably went from positive to really negative in that last five minutes. Sort of wondering what the hell was going on. Pretty much a rollercoaster. I will look back on this game and laugh about it, really.”
Blues coach Cotter was more measured: “Tight situations need clear heads and that’s what we got.”
For Reds coach Les Kiss, the frustration was palpable: “The boys have an appetite and mindset to keep playing, despite the fact it got away from us. We didn’t die wondering.” McReight, meanwhile, reflected on the decisive penalty: “As a No.7 you live for those moments … you want to put yourself in that position.”
Sullivan was awarded the Sellars Dixon Medal as player of the match — the award honouring Auckland’s All Black George Sellars and Queensland’s Billy Dixon, who both played rugby for their provinces and paid the ultimate sacrifice at the Battle of Messines in 1917. A fitting honour on ANZAC Day.
The result moves the Blues, at least temporarily, into second on the ladder, though the Chiefs can still pass them before the weekend is out. The Reds sit sixth at 5–4, behind the Brumbies on points differential despite producing some of the finest attacking rugby of the round.
Match details
Blues 36 (Tries: Zarn Sullivan 7′, 24′, Cole Forbes 15′, Dalton Papali’i 43′, Bradley Slater 63′; Conversions: Beauden Barrett 4/5; Penalties: Beauden Barrett 1/1)
Reds 33 (Tries: Fraser McReight 10′, Harry Wilson 32′, Jock Campbell 36′, Tim Ryan 75′, Louis Werchon 80′; Conversions: Harry McLaughlin-Phillips 3/3, Ben Volavola 1/2)
Half-time: 21–21
Full-time (80 mins): 33–33
Super Point: Blues 36–33 Reds
Venue: One NZ Stadium, Christchurch
Referee: James Doleman
Assistant Referees: Marcus Playle, Damon Murphy
TMO: Richard Kelly
Milestones
- Jeffery Toomaga-Allen (Reds) — 150th Super Rugby appearance
- Zarn Sullivan (Blues) — Sellars Dixon Medal, Player of the Match
Teams
Blues: 15 Zarn Sullivan, 14 Kade Banks, 13 AJ Lam, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Cole Forbes, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Anton Segner, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 3 Marcel Renata, 2 Bradley Slater, 1 Ben Ake.
Replacements: 16 James Mullan, 17 Mason Tupaea, 18 Sam Matenga, 19 Josh Beehre, 20 Torian Barnes, 21 Taufa Funaki, 22 Stephen Perofeta, 23 Xavi Taele.
Reds: 15 Jock Campbell, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Tim Ryan, 10 Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, 9 Kalani Thomas, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Fraser McReight (c), 6 Joe Brial, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Seru Uru, 3 Zane Nonggorr, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Aidan Ross.
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 Nick Bloomfield, 19 Hamish Muller, 20 Vaiuta Latu, 21 Louis Werchon, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Treyvon Pritchard.
What’s next
The Blues return to Auckland to face Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium in Round 12. The Reds head home to Suncorp Stadium to host the Brumbies the following Saturday.
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