(Reuters) – The Queensland Reds kept up their 100 percent start to the Super Rugby AU season by beating the Melbourne Rebels 44-19 to secure a bonus-point victory on Saturday.
Prop forward Taniela Tupou scored two tries while Hunter Paisami, Fraser McReight, Jock Campbell and Joshua Flook also went over for the visitors as they made it six wins out of six and reclaimed top place in the standings from the ACT Brumbies.
Captain James O’Connor kicked four conversions and two penalties in the runaway win.
“We had a really big emphasis on doing the simple things right in today’s game,” O’Connor said.
Frank Lomani, Reece Hodge and Michael Wells scored tries for the Rebels, but they were always up against it after going 24-0 down inside the first 20 minutes.
Tupou and Paisami scored in the first five minutes, the second try being the first of two intercepts in the game.
Tupou got his second try with an impressive sprint down the line and came close to a hat-trick before being replaced in the second half.
The Rebels did offer hope of a comeback as they brought the score back to 24-14 at halftime but they were quickly outgunned again after the interval.
Fiji international Lomani’s first start for the Rebels proved one of their high points as he scored and set up their other two tries with line breaks.
The Reds meet the Brumbies in a table-topping game next weekend.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town, Editing by Ed Osmond)
