Watch every second of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season live and on demand via Stan Sport.<\/a><\/p>\nSo what did we learn?<\/p>\n
1. Party like it\u2019s 2011<\/p>\n
The Queensland Reds harnessed the energy of the present 2011 Super Rugby winning side to down the Crusaders and end their losing drought against the defending champions.<\/p>\n
Les Kiss\u2019 side left plenty of points out there, with at least three tries gone begging, but did enough in the clutch moments.<\/p>\n
Their star players stepped up when needed, with captain Fraser McReight\u2019s turnover with four minutes left enormous. Meanwhile, the impact of Louis Werchon and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips was massive, each coming up with big moments that ended in points.<\/p>\n
But for a team coming off back-to-back losses, it\u2019s the type of win needed to steady a season before a much-needed bye.<\/p>\n
2. Fine Filipo shines in milestone<\/p>\n
Filipo Daugunu refused to lose in his 100th and willed the Reds home, the best on the park.<\/p>\n
Daugunu is an energiser bunny and was everywhere in the win, whether it was bone-crunching hits or electric breaks.<\/p>\n
It was fitting the winger found his way over to break the deadlock, making a reputation for himself after similar efforts last year against the Western Force.<\/p>\n
He ran for close to 120 metres, broke three tackles and came up with a big turnover.<\/p>\n
3. Carter injury concerns continue<\/p>\n
Carter Gordon\u2019s luckless run continues after the flyhalf limped off in the second half with a knee injury.<\/p>\n
It was an awkward tackle that saw Gordon on crunches and in a knee brace, coming off just after the break. The playmaker looked back at full pace, outsprinting some serious flyers to win the race to Harry Wilson\u2019s snap kick.<\/p>\n
The return of Tom Lynagh will help soften the blow, expected back after the bye.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s concerning for Wallaby fans after Gordon missed most of the Spring Tour and has featured just five times in 2026.<\/p>\n
4. Permanent kicking licence <\/p>\n
Harry Wilson must\u2019ve picked up some tips on the Rivals set because his snap kick for Carter Gordon\u2019s try would\u2019ve made Scott Pendlebury proud.<\/p>\n
It was a moment that summed up a frantic first half as Wilson put the ball on the toe after the teams traded intercepts.<\/p>\n
Wilson has built a quality resume as one of the better forward kickers. If used properly, it\u2019s a massive asset to any team to have a back-rower so comfortable with playing eyes-up footy and backing his boot.<\/p>\n
5. Crusaders fighting for title hopes<\/p>\n
The Crusaders find themselves in no-man\u2019s land with a really dangerous fortnight ahead in the grand scheme of their title defence.<\/p>\n
They felt the absence of their key All Blacks, missing the polish and calmness to find a way home late in the game.<\/p>\n
A trip to Perth awaits against a Force side fighting for its season, while there will be plenty of pressure to perform against the NSW Waratahs to open the new stadium as part of Super Round.<\/p>\n
A slip up either game invites the Waratahs and Highlanders into the finals conversation, with Rob Penney\u2019s side still to play the Hurricanes twice, the Chiefs and Blues.<\/p>\n
The late bonus point they got tonight could decide their season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a game built on chaos, but the Queensland Reds rode the storm for a crucial 31-26…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,29897,12061,760,85,48013],"class_list":{"0":"post-600038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-crusaders","11":"tag-queensland-reds","12":"tag-rugby","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-super-rugby-pacific"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}