Marred by the card: Queensland Reds beat Brumbies in Super Rugby clash

But Super Rugby fans lips were left divided as a top-of-the-table clash between the Brumbies and Queensland Reds was marred by red and yellow cards in Brisbane on Saturday night.

The Reds prevailed 21-7 to end the Brumbies' six-game winning streak and draw level atop the Super Rugby Pacific ladder. Level on competition points and points differential, the Brumbies have the edge in tries scored this year.

But three of the four cards dished out by referee Angus Gardner will dominate conversation in the fallout.

Queensland flanker Tuaina Tualima saw red for a cleanout on James Slipper in the 33^rd minute. Clear contact to the head justified the red card but many were left wondering how else he could clean out the Brumbies prop.

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But it was a yellow card to Rob Valetini that caused the most controversy. The devastating Brumby clipped Tate McDermott on the head, after the diminutive Reds scrumhalf ducked into contact before continuing his sniping run.

Fans blew up deluxe and commentators were all but lost for words after Gardner directed Valetini to the sideline, sparking a debate as to whether Valetini had even made genuine contact with McDermott's head.

"We'll just look at our own performance tonight, we won't look at the performances of others," McKellar said.

Minutes after Valetini returned to the field, the Brumbies were again reduced to 14 men when Cam Clark was yellow carded for batting a ball down. Some felt it was a deliberate knock down, some felt it was the reaction of a backtracking defender which common sense suggests shouldn't warrant a card.

Reds prop Taniela Tupou was handed the fourth and final card of the night for tripping Nic White after being offside at the ruck, but by then the result was a fait accompli. Queensland had taken their chances. The Brumbies were uninspiring in attack, riddled by errors and ill-discipline.

The home team has won 15 of the past 16 matches between these two sides, and the latest offering sees the Reds drag themselves to equal first on the table with 26 competition points.

"It was dreadful, it's as simple as that. I think it's 19 turnovers, we've got no one to blame but ourselves," McKellar said.

"We're obviously not valuing possession. We couldn't build any phases or put the defence under any pressure. We've got to have a good look at ourselves.

"The beauty of it is we're back here next week [against the Fijian Drua] and we get our chance to be better. A short turnaround, a lot of our group will be with the Wallabies camp, so the key for the back end of the year regardless of who we're playing is making sure we're as fit and as healthy as we can possibly be.

"When we're at our best, we can beat anyone. Judging ourselves off tonight, the reality is we were far from our best."

Reds star and man of the match Fraser McReight says some of the onus is on players to adjust amid a crackdown on ill-discipline.

"Obviously there is a crackdown at the moment but as players we probably have to be better, but also we just have to learn to get used to those new rules," McReight said on Stan Sport.

"Moving forward, I'd personally like to see the game flow a bit more and be a bit more entertaining for the fans. I know if I was a watcher, I'd like to see the game flow a bit more, but as players we can take we can take a big part to improve that."

The Brumbies' attack was disjointed and now McKellar could be hunting for his third starting fullback in as many weeks after Jesse Mogg lasted eight minutes before succumbing to a knee injury.

Mogg was filling the void left by Tom Banks, who underwent surgery on a fractured cheekbone and is likely to spend another three weeks on the sideline.

But he picked up a leg injury in the fourth minute and could barely soldier on for four more, leaving the field to send Tom Wright to fullback and bringing try-scorer Clark onto the wing for his club debut.

Queensland coach Brad Thorn was not without his own injury concerns. Co-captain Liam Wright suffered an ankle injury in the warm-up, bringing Tualima into the starting side and Matt Faessler onto the bench.

Tualima's night was over inside 40 minutes, but the Brumbies failed to capitalise on a one-man advantage in the ensuing 20 minutes. Instead it was the Reds taking the ascendancy to go some way towards avenging the defeat suffered a fortnight ago.

AT A GLANCE

Super Rugby Pacific round seven: QUEENSLAND REDS 21 (Fraser McReight, Filipo Daugunu tries; James O'Connor conversion; O'Connor 3 penalties) bt ACT BRUMBIES 7 (Cam Clark try; Ryan Lonergan conversion) at Lang Park.

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