Queensland head coach Les Kiss has praised his players' grit after the Reds made an emphatic start to their Super Rugby Pacific campaign with a 20-point win over Moana Pasifika.
The star-studded Reds resisted a spirited fightback from Moana to record a runaway eight-tries-to-five victory on Friday night in Brisbane.
Watch every game of Super Rugby Pacific live and on-demand via Stan Sport.
Kiss was delighted with the 56-36 win, saying the work done on their pre-season tour of the United Kingdom had paid off.
"The cohesion we gained on the tour and the way the coaches built the game plans were two really big plusses that came out," Kiss said.
"We've added some extra layers to our game. We don't just play one way and we had to show that against Moana Pasifika.
"To stand strong and not crumble with that sort of pressure on our tryline was excellent as was our start to the second half."
With 13 Wallabies in the Reds' match-night 23, the hosts led 21-0 after 12 minutes.
The early dominance didn't deter Pasifika, who pulled to within seven points of the lead midway through the second half with the Reds having three players yellow-carded.
But quickfire tries to locks Angus Blyth and Ryan Smith in the space of three minutes turned a precarious six-point buffer into a commanding 42-22 advantage for the home side.
"Look, when you've got a man down, you've got to simplify things," Reds co-captain Tate McDermott said.
"Discipline is key. Man on feet is key and the boys did an excellent job with that."
Moana Pasifika captain Ardie Savea was generous in his assessment of the Reds.
"The Reds defence and grit was testament to them," he said.
The Reds hope they will only become better when Wright finally returns after more than six months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury - one match into the flanker's Wallabies captaincy.
"I'm hoping to get some minutes next week," Wright told Stan Sport. "It's been a tough journey."
