A first half hat-trick of tries by standout winger Ilan Cloete set up a decisive 59-50 victory for the Queensland Under-19s in Perth today.
The South African-born finisher used a combination of strength, speed and sharp positional play to torch the Western Force with three tries by the 25th minute.
Even more spectacular was his role in fellow winger Tom Howard's five-pointer early in the second half of the Super Rugby U19s match.
Cloete chip kicked ahead and when the ball veered to the right sideline, he leapt and batted the ball two-handed to Charlie Bird inside before it bounced. Bird put Howard over for his second try.
After two earlier losses in the tournament, the nine- try performance from the Reds was a great showcase of skills in the team on a blustery afternoon.
The dominance of lock Kenny Harris in the tight, the pacy support play of flanker Joe Stoddart, the clever short-side craft of halfback James Prole, the direct purpose of No.8 Angus Kelly and the all-round involvement of fullback Charlie Bird were all excellent features.
The Reds rattled along at better than a point-a-minute to lead 59-31 before conceding three tries in the final 20 minutes with looser defence.
At the nine-minute mark, Kelly's leg-drive in a gallop gave the Reds a good attacking position. When the ball was spread wide, Cloete made a strong dot-down with three defenders on him.
The winger dashed 25m for his second try when Bird dished a quality offload after a sweeping backline play off a lineout on halfway.
For his third, Cloete had a short, untouched few steps to the tryline off a Bird pass.
The best of the tries from the Reds U19s came to open the second half when a long ball from Bird ignited an 80m raid. Bird backed up to take the final pop ball for the try from Prole.
Cairns product Wallace Charlie showed his class and elusiveness for the Western Force. The Indigenous fullback scored three tries, including a trademark intercept try, and set up another.
QUEENSLAND REDS U19s 59
Tries: Elan Cloete 3, Tom Howard 2, Charlie Bird 2, Joe Stoddart, Will Parmenter
Conversions: Netani Lesimaikimatuku 7
Defeated
WESTERN FORCE U19s 50
Tries: Wallace Charlie 3, Luke Holt-Brown, Tamarangi Tunui, Peni Naqau, Chris Jansen, penalty try
Conversions: Brodie Mainwaring 4
Half-time: Reds 40-Force 19
Venue: Tompkins Park, Perth
