Summary The much-hyped match to decide Australia's dominant Super 15 club proved inconclusive.
BRISBANE (AP):- The much-hyped match to decide Australia s dominant Super 15 club proved inconclusive after the Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies were deadlocked Saturday in a punishing 19-19 draw.
The Reds crossed for three tries, while Christian Lealiifano scored a converted try and kicked four penalties to account for all of the Brumbies points.
It was enough for the Brumbies to retain their narrow lead in the Australian conference with 35 points, ahead of Queensland on 33.
The Reds wasted plenty of opportunities, repeatedly declining easy shots at penalty goals and narrowly missing three other tries.
Rod Davis dropped the ball over the line in the right corner in the first half and, in the second half, Anthony Faingaa was bundled into the left corner post as he crossed and prop Ben Daley barged over the line but the video referee couldn t confirm that he d grounded the ball.
The Brumbies defended bravely on their own line, twice down to 14 men with players in the sin bin for professional fouls, and held out the Reds for 10 minutes midway through the second half despite conceding frequent penalties when the 2011 champions relentlessly attacked the tryline.
After trailing 13-7 at halftime, the Reds constant pressure finally overcame the inspirational Brumbies defense when 19-year-old flanker Liam Gill barged over to level the scores at 19-19 in the 76th minute.
Reds coach Ewen McKenzie questioned why more Brumbies weren t yellow carded in the second half, and said he could barely believe a penalty awarded to the Brumbies from a kick restart that gifted the visitors three crucial points.
"It was a frustrating time. In the end, we were determined to score some tries," he said. "We got a couple of yellow cards there. I thought we played with good intent. We shook the game up a little bit. In the end we weren t quite good enough."
Reds skipper James Horwill didn t regret not taking easy penalty kicks when they were offered throughout the game, but said the enterprising Queensland attack wasn t rewarded.
"We went out and tried to play. There was some cynical stuff, but that s the reality of it," he said. "We shot ourselves in the foot. We didn t execute well to get over the line."
Brumbies coach Jake White, who guided South Africa to the 2007 World Cup title, praised his team s character in defense.
"You re never happy when you draw a game, you always want to win," he said. "But considering we played 20 minutes with 14 men, and they had plenty of cracks at our line, to see a defensive effort like that you ve got to be proud."
"Those sort of things you put in your memory bank. I m sure those things you applaud with your team, praising them for their guts. It s something we really won t underplay. We ll make sure we get as much value out of that defensive performance as we can."
The Brumbies took a 6-0 lead after 10 minutes via the boot of Lealiifano before No. 8 Jake Schatz barged over four minutes later for the Reds at the back of a 11-man driving maul.
Lealiifano scored the Brumbies lone try in the 25th minute to give the ACT back the advantage, but was sent to the sin bin minutes later for a professional foul at the breakdown.
Quade Cooper was again impressive, offering precise kicking and inventive play, including the long, flat cutout pass that sent the Davies over the line in the second half.
Luck was on the Brumbies side, with ACT capitalizing on almost all of its opportunities while Queensland fell short again and again.
