Highlanders suffer Super Rugby loss to the Reds as Brisbane curse continues

The Highlanders couldn’t handle the heat in Brisbane, going down to the Reds 31-14 on Friday night.

Suncorp Stadium is a bogey ground for the Southern Men who’ve only won there four times in 30 years of Super Rugby.

The Reds were coming off a bye and looked a lot more fresh in the warm and humid conditions than the Highlanders, who had tough games against the Crusaders and Chiefs to start the season.

A slick try to Reds captain Fraser McReight opened the scoring for the home team in the 18th minute.

Ten minutes later they had another to hooker Matt Faessler from a line-out drive to make it 12-nil.

The Highlanders were able to reply quickly following a burst from the ruck by hooker Jack Taylor who put impressive halfback Adam Lennox over.

But the Reds scored a third try through speedster Tim Ryan to take a deserved 19-7 lead into the break.

Needing to score first in the second-half to stay in the match, the Highlanders did exactly that through 22 year-old number eight Lucas Casey, barging through defenders to narrow the deficit to just five points.

The Reds were able to finish over the top though with two more tries as the Highlanders fell off 31 tackles in the match.

Captain Timoci Tavanawai admits they were off their game.

“Yeah, just frustrated eh,” Tavatavanawai told Sky Sport.

“We come here expected for a win, expect a lot from the boys but I’ll take it on the chin as a leadership group we didn’t really execute what we come here for.”

The Highlanders now return to Dunedin for a round four clash against the Force who were too good for Moana Pasifika, winning 35-19 in Pukekohe.