Match Details

Reds

VS

Lions (SA)

20

Brisbane Kick off times: 8:15pm (Local) Sat 3 Mar 9:15pm (AEDT) Sat 3 Mar

26

Second-half converted tries to Jaque Fourie and captain Ernst Joubert have seen the Lions snatch a come-from-behind 26-20 Investec Super 14 victory over the Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Earlier tries from teenage tyros Quade Cooper and Will Genia had given the Reds a deserved half-time lead as the Queenslanders looked to avoid a fourth-straight defeat.

But fullback Earl Rose, playing in place of Louis Ludick who was absent with a calf injury, kept the South Africans in the contest with four penalties from four attempts before the scores from Fourie and Joubert ended a run of six consecutive losses to the Reds.

The defeat leaves Queensland rooted to the foot of the table after dropping to the bottom before kick-off when the Stormers upset the Hurricanes in Palmerston North.

The Lions, however, move temporarily up to second place with the prospect of a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash against the Blues in Auckland next Saturday.

Reds coach Eddie Jones handed new recruit Andrew Walker the vacant No.22 jumper just 36 hours after landing in Brisbane from French second division club Gaillac and agreeing a two-year deal.

And the 33-year-old made his Reds debut with 16 minutes remaining when he replaced Henari Veratau on the wing, making one significant line break and a strong tackle in a promising display despite knocking on with a late chance.

Jones, though, faced more injury concerns when loosehead prop Ben Coutts dislocated his troublesome shoulder in the warm-up with Herman Hunt promoted for his run-on debut.

Not that it seemed to affect the Reds in the first-half with a youthful reshaped backline showing little nerves against a Lions side flying high in the table after winning three straight Super 14 matches.

Eighteen-year-old Cooper marked his run-on debut at flyhalf with a sparking opening 40 minutes and crossed for the Reds' first flowing backline score of the season following a wonderful flicked pass from Berrick Barnes.

Genia, on at scrum-half for a groggy Nic Berry, who was kicked in the head at the bottom of a ruck, then added a second after David Croft's line break initially broke through the Lions defence. The 19-year-old showing great determination to bust two cover tackles and cross the line after taking a lovely pass from Barnes.

Rose was 100 per cent with the boot to keep the South Africans in the hunt by reducing Queensland's half-time lead to 17-12.

After a period of stalemate early in the second half, poor kicks from Clinton Schifcofske and Cooper in quick succession put the Reds under pressure and from the resulting phase of play, a trademark grubber kick from reserve flyhalf Andre Pretorius set up the Lions' opening try.

Pretorius kicked through and after Brando Va'alu swotted at thin air attempting to knock the ball out of play, the Third Match Official confirmed Fourie had touched down before the ball bounced dead to give the visitors the lead.

Queensland was then left to rue more elementary kicking errors when Schifcofske failed to find touch and Pretorius made no mistake with the reply to take play inside the Reds 22 with four minutes to play. Just three phases later, Joubert stepped off his left foot to scramble over past the attempted tackle of Barnes and score adjacent to the posts and steal a deserved win.

Lions 26

Tries: Fourie, Joubert

Conversions: Rose 2

Penalties: Rose 4

Reds 20

Tries: Cooper, Genia

Conversions: Schifcofske 2

Penalties: Schifcofske 2

HT 12-17