The Pacific Rugby Cup sees Australia’s best emerging Super Rugby talent compete against national representative teams from Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and Argentina

Queensland Reds Media Release –

Queensland Reds A have lost a tightly contested Pacific Rugby Cup final, 36-21, to the Argentina PAMPAS at Eastwood Rugby Club in Sydney.

Argentina got out to a 12-nil lead in the first half before the Reds scored their first points through inside centre, Sam Johnson, who slotted a penalty to put the Reds on the board.

Argentina crossed for their third try of the match before Nigel Genia scored Reds A’s first. Johnson missed the conversion but landed a further penalty leaving the Queenslanders six points behind the Argentines, 17-11, heading into the halftime break.

The second half saw Queensland Premier Rugby’s leading try scorer from the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Veressa Mataitini, score under the posts for Reds A. Johnson added the extra two to edge the Queenslanders in front, 18-17.

Reds A put themselves in a position to win the match with eight minutes to go, before the Argentines staged a late comeback, crossing for three late tries to close the game out 36-21.

Despite the loss, Reds A Head Coach Peter Wilkins thought that his team showed great application throughout the match.

“The team deserve a lot of credit for the intensity they played with today and for their application,” Wilkins said.

“We had a clear game plan heading into the match to move Argentina’s big forward pack around the field and avoid set-piece contests and we managed to do that effectively.

“We put ourselves in a position to win the match but just lacked a little composure in their half.”

Coming into the match, Wilkins had selected a number of players from Queensland Premier Rugby to help bolster the squad and he was pleased with their integration into the match day 23.

“The players that came into the squad for the final all worked hard and put in a big effort. They understood the game we tried to play and focused on implementing it.”

“Sam Grasso (GPS) came on with twenty minutes to go and maintained the pressure that Nigel Genia had built in the first 60 minutes of the match.”

Wilkins also highlighted the efforts of Sef Fa’agase (Reds WTS) who featured in the starting XV at tighthead prop for the first time during the Pacific Rugby Cup, and was pleased with the performance of the Reds A scrum against the experienced Argentines.

“The Pacific Rugby cup has been invaluable. To provide games of such a standard against various international opponents is a great initiative,” said Wilkins.

“It provides a quality competition to help players push for Super Rugby selection while also providing younger prospects with the opportunity to play at a higher level.”

Argentina Pampas XV 36 defeated Queensland Reds A 21 (Nigel Genia, Veressa Mataitini tries; Sam Johnson con, 3 pens)