The injury-ravaged Reds trailed 15-0 inside the first 20 minutes and also had winger Brando Va'aulu sin binned for a dangerous tackle but fought back to beat the heavily-favored Chiefs, who had won their first three games away from home.

"You can't win games when you're struggling for ball and tackling like that," Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina said in a televised interview. "It's very disappointing to come home and lose like that, especially with the way we started."   Chiefs wingers Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lelia Masaga and loosehead prop Sona Taumalolo scored tries, though Stephen Donald missed all three conversions, to give their side a 15-0 lead.

The Reds, however, inspired by Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia, refused to roll over and responded with a try from winger Will Chambers in the 27th minute, which was converted by Cooper.

Donald finally landed a successful kick after Va'aulu was sin binned for a dangerous tackle on Sivivatu in the 33rd minute before Queensland's Cooper scored two penalties to drag his side back to 18-13 at the break.

Cooper cut the gap further with his third successful penalty and Morahan gave his side the lead for the first time when he outsprinted the Chiefs' defenders from 60 meters out to pounce on a speculative downfield kick.

Cooper converted the try and the Reds held on as the two sides bashed away at each other without yielding for the final 10 minutes.

"Outstanding effort from the boys, just really proud. We really dug deep when we were down in the second half," Genia said.

"A lot of (people) questioned our depth but the young guys really stood up and I'm very happy for the boys."
 
Brumbies shrug off rain to tame Lions in Canberra

The ACT Brumbies ground out a 24-13 victory over South Africa's Lions in a rain-soaked Super 14 match in Canberra on Friday.

The Brumbies dominated the game but the home team's frustrations were compounded by their inability to secure a bonus point for a fourth try despite hammering away at the Lions line for the majority of the contest.

Christian Lealiifano and Stephen Moore scored tries for the Brumbies and the team were also awarded a penalty try. Flyhalf Matt Giteau slotted over three conversions and a penalty.

Lions flyhalf Burton Francis kicked two penalties and converted Hannes' Franklin' second half try for the visitors as both sides struggled to cope with the wet conditions.

"A win's a win, but we are disappointed in the last 10 minutes we couldn't get that bonus point," Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles said in a televised interview.

Francis had opened the scoring with a penalty before the home side replied with a 16th minute Giteau penalty and a converted penalty try that stemmed from a deliberate offside by Lions scrumhalf JP Joubert.

The Lions had already been warned by referee Steve Walsh for persistent offending that caused tighthead prop Kevin Buys to be sin binned before another succession of scrum penalties on the Lions goal-line led to the penalty try.

Francis slotted a long-range penalty early in the second half to make it 10-6 before Brumbies center Lealiifano finished off a sweeping team movement, which Giteau converted to extend the lead to 17-6.

Lions replacement hooker Franklin, however, reduced the deficit again when he barrelled over in the 54th minute before his opposite Moore replied in a similar fashion three minutes later after a raking kick by Giteau put the Brumbies on attack.

Neither side was able to score again though Brumbies winger Pat McCabe did cross the line in the 75th minute but was held up in a sliding cover tackle by Lions winger Wandile Mjekevu.