A youthful Queensland Reds endured a tough hit-out in going down 36-7 to Super Rugby rivals the Hurricanes in a mid-season friendly match on the Sunshine Coast on Friday night.
Reds coach Ewan McKenzie used the match played at Kawana Waters to give a host National Academy and Queensland Premier Rugby players a run and took positives from the performance.
“In the second half they found a bit of rhythm and we had a few opportunities, but we just weren’t clinic enough to finish off the pressure we did apply,” McKenzie said.
“The scoreboard wasn’t kind but we battled away and we will get some value out of that.
“There were a couple of players I wanted to take a look at and they did some good things.
“It gives us a pointer to where we can go in the future.”
Among the positives for the Reds was an impressive performance by Radike Samo while fullback Luke Morahan, who made his Wallabies debut against Scotland last week, was also strong.
Chris Eaton, Waisake Naholo, Arden Savea, Alapati Leiua, Faifili Levave and TJ Perenara all scored tries for the New Zealand side while Queensland’s sole five-pointer came from prop Guy Shepherdson.
The match is the only encounter the Reds will play during the month-long Super Rugby break and they will now turn their attention to their remaining three regular season matches against the Rebels, Highlanders and Waratahs.