The Red Army continues to march on with the Queensland Reds putting in a perfect first half of rugby on their way to 50-10 victory over the Western Force in a rain soaked Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

The victory marks the first time since April 2006 that the Reds have won back-to-back games, and with five games played, this is the best start the side has made to a Super rugby season this millennium.

It was also the Reds biggest ever win in their history, surpassing the great Queensland side of 1996, who beat the Blues 51-13.

Ewen McKenzie has transformed the previously struggling Queensland side, who have finished no higher than 10th since 2004, and while a win over a depleted Force might not quite be enough evidence for their harshest critics, it is hard not to think that this Reds team could be a title contender.

If they are not, at the very least they will win more games than they lose this season.

The Reds played with the confidence and flashiness that will make then very hard to beat, with their brilliant halves combination of Quade Cooper and Will Genia putting their team on the front foot on every occasion.  The two young backs, surely currently Robbie Deans first choice Wallabies nine and ten, are leading a side that is not stacked with superstars, but is putting in the neccessary work and showing the right attitude to win games.

The victory catapulted the Reds into sixth position on the table, with the third best points differential of any team at +55.

The scoring was opened in the first ten minutes, with Cooper setting up Anthony Faingaa for the first try.  Two minutes later Braid combined with Digby Ioane and Peter Hynes to set up wing Luke Morahan, and suddenly it was 12-0 after as many minutes.

James O’Connor, who was playing at inside centre, his third position this season, struck the first points for the Force on the quarter hour mark, but that was all the Force would have to cheer about in the first half.

As the second quarter began Ioane made a wonderful break, and fended off Force centre Ryan Cross to score.  Cooper, who was playing with the verve and audacity of a touch footballer, then set up the powerful Reds back for his second about ten minutes later.

The Reds were running rampant.

And to think, this was all happening on a slippery surface with a greasy ball.

Cooper would be involved again as he took on the Force’s line, and set up Faingaa for his second.  Halftime mercifully came for the Force, as they trudged to the sheds 36-3 down.

The second half never lived up to the heights set in the first half, as the rain continued to pour down in Brisbane, but the Reds kept trying to put on a show.  They emptied their bench in the 60th minute, but still looked the more threatening team.

The Force though showed a lot of spirit, and scored their only try via wing Nick Cummins in a score that was scant consolation for the team.

Powerful Reds blindside Scott Higgenbottom would score both of their tries in the second half, as the Queenslanders ran riot and realistically never looked challenged against a valiant by limited Force team.  

Will Genia was composed after his side’s record win, and made an effort to thank the Queensland fans after his speech, with the crowds swelling based on the teams outstanding performances.

“Outstanding effort from the boys, we stuck to the game plan and showed a lot of discipline.  We talked about setting the platform, and we managed the game really well,” Genia said.

“We really just want to play for each other, and we took a lot of confidence from our come from behind win against the Chiefs last weekend.”

Nathan Sharpe however, was clearly agitated, as his injury struck side continue to search for their first win of the season.  He did remark that it was good that his team upped their game in the second half.

“Mate, that is a positive,” the Wallabies lock said.

“But quite simply the first half just killed us.  We’ve got six days only to front up and turn around for the Waratahs.”

“It is just that consistency for us, and we are struggling to find that with our passage of play.”

Reds 50
Tries: Faingaa 2, Morahan, Ioane 2, Higginbottom 2
Con: Cooper 5, Lucas
Pen: Cooper
Yellow card: Peter Hynes, Faingaa

Force 10
Tries: Cummins
Con: O’Connor
Pen: O’Connor
Yellow card: Hill

Halftime: 36-3 (Queensland Reds)

Reds: 15 Peter Hynes, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Brando Va'aulu, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia (c), 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Van Humphries, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Ben Daley. Replacements: 16 Sean Hardman, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Adam Byrnes, 19 Jake Schatz, 20 Ben Lucas, 21 Morgan Turinui, 22 Will Chambers.

Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Scott Staniforth, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 David Hill, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Richard Stanford, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 2 Ryan Tyrrell, 1 Nic Henderson. Replacements: 16 Pek Cowan, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Tom Hockings, 19 Jono Jenkins, 20 Chris O'Young, 21 Sam Harris, 22 Mitch Inman.

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