Rugby: Reds realising potential under McKenzie's watch

The Reds are developing into a formidable force under the guidance of Ewen McKenzie. Photo / Getty Images

For nearly a decade, the Reds have been one of the punching bags in the Super 14.

Now they are hitting back. Since they reached the semis in 2001, they have kept sliding down the points table, with 12th place their best result since the tournament was extended.

They were not quite an automatic points collect for the top teams but neither did the Reds hold too many fears for the heavy-duty sides.

That was until Ewen "Link" McKenzie arrived this season via Stade Francais. Performances improved and on Saturday they bounced into the leading quartet after dealing to the front-running Bulls.

Was it good fortune? Coincidence? Planning and experience? Or were the stars simply in alignment?

All of the above, probably, and a healthy dose of self-belief delivered by McKenzie, who won a World Cup winner's medal as a tighthead prop and coached the Waratahs to two finals before taking his talents to Europe.

The Reds' resurgence is one of the feel-good factors of this year's competition and inquiries about whether they are the real deal may be answered on Friday when they host the Stormers.

Remarkably, the Reds returned from their gruelling three-game trip to South Africa to deal to the Bulls with a bold gameplan, refusing to kick the ball out or to their rivals unless they had no alternative. It caught the Bulls off guard and out of step.

This Suncorp special vied to be the season's best game, showing matches don't need stacks of tries to inspire - the four-try clash was an epic. The Reds' relentless ball-in-hand approach was countered by Bulls' defiance and the occasional battering maul.

Shorn of their injured test lock and captain James Horwill early in the season, the Reds' only international clout in the pack came from bit-part All Black Daniel Braid and Wallaby tourist Leroy Houston.

But they played with great heart and enough skill to deliver some decent possession to the quicksilver interrogators in the backline.

The probing runs and mercury passing from new captain Will Genia, the inventive teasing and direction from Quade Cooper, pace from Peter Hynes and Rod Davies, detonation from Digby Ioane and solidity from Will Chambers and Anthony Faingaa made for a potent mix.

That quality package may evaporate this week - the Stormers may shut it down, but it was inspiring to watch.

It had been such a high-tempo game that by halftime it seemed unlikely to last. You certainly wondered about Reds prop Laurie Weeks' "we can take them" forecast before he hit the sheds.

Weeks is now known as the Suncorp Soothsayer after the Reds' 19-12 victory in a match which was a huge counterpoint to the snoozefest in Canberra when the Hurricanes edged out the Brumbies. Referee Jonathan Kaplan was ruffled, neither team was overly positive but the Canes collected the booty and maintained an outside hope of the playoffs.

The Crusaders sidled past the Cheetahs as they claimed seven tries, and then hours later, top-of-the-table rating on points differential when the Bulls were denied victory in Brisbane.

The seven-time champions ran out with a rejigged side, but no loss of momentum as they tuned up for their offshore foray beginning this week against the Force.

Stormers' coach Allister Coetzee thought his side was reaching the sort of balance they cherished.

He had not seen his team attack better than they did against the Chiefs once the pack began to dominate their areas.

If both the Stormers and Reds maintain that form, their meeting in Brisbane on Friday should be a humdinger which may draw a crowd to rival the 42,237 ground record high for a Super 14 clash.