Reds relaxed about South Africa trip

Fresh from a dramatic one-point win over the Super Rugby champions, the Queensland Reds are ready to create some more havoc on their tour of South Africa.

The Reds notched their first win of the season in thrilling fashion last weekend, pipping the Highlanders 28-27 in a nail-biter.

Fullback Karmichael Hunt says that win was the perfect send-off before matches on the road against the Bulls and Stormers over the next two weeks.

It’s the second experience of a South Africa trip for the former NRL and AFL player, and Hunt says coach Matt O’Connor has already made it clear what the Reds can expect from a partisan Loftus Versfeld Stadium crowd against the Bulls this weekend.

“In the team meeting Matty O’Connor touched on the intimidation of Loftus Stadium,” he said.

“They’re a very vocal crowd and he just wanted to make sure the boys that haven’t been here before understand that we’re going into a pretty hostile environment and we’re preparing for a tough game.”

The Bulls and Stormers are the top two teams in the South Africa conference and Hunt is focusing on the task at hand despite increasing speculation a Wallabies call-up could be coming for the former rugby league international.

“Week by week, I’m progressing, trying to get better,” Hunt said.

“Trying to hone my skills, fit into the scheme that we’ve got going as a team.

“Last week was a great week for us, obviously beating the champs and we’ve got a couple of big tasks ahead of us here in South Africa starting this week with the Bulls.”

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