Hunter Paisami’s brutal shot on motormouthed Brumbies halfback Nic White capped Queensland’s revenge Super Rugby win and put a broad smile on the face of Reds coach Brad Thorn.
The 78th minute highlight reel tackle (watch the video in the player above) was an emphatic way for the Reds to close out a scrappy 21-7 win on Saturday which drew them level on points with the Brumbies at the top of the table.
It was the first loss of the season for the Brumbies, who beat the Reds 16-12 in Canberra in round five.
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“Oh no! They’ve just got to stop doing it when the hit man’s lurking,” commentator Sean Maloney said on Nine and Stan Sport.
“Oh boy. Oh no, not again. The hit man does not miss, he misses never. Nic White wasn’t great on the other side of it.”
Co-commentator Andrew Mehrtens, not known for his tackling prowess, winced as he watched the replays roll.
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“To add insult to injury, Hunter Paisami stayed there and tried to help Nic White to his feet,” Mehrtens said.
“He didn’t want to, he just wanted to stay in that foetal position. That’s fire in the house stuff, isn’t it? That’s stop, drop and roll – rolling in pain.”
Thorn lavished praise on the Wallabies centre in his post-match interview with Michael Atkinson.
“Hunter by name, hunter by nature,” Thorn said.
“When I played, you had hit men out there and everyone in different teams know who they are. So there’s a psychological thing there, you know it could be coming.
“That’s right up my alley.”
Again the Reds win was marked by character, rather than being clinical, as they survived a red card to flanker Tuaina Tualima and a yellow to prop Taniela Tupou.
The Brumbies also had two players sinbinned for contentious incidents.
Flanker Rob Valetini was marched by referee Angus Gardner for contact with a falling Tate McDermott that commentator Tim Horan felt warranted a penalty only.
The commentary team also took issue with Cam Clark’s yellow card for a “deliberate” knockdown after he scored the game’s first try on his Brumbies debut.
Fifteen Brumbies players and eight Reds will now join the Wallabies camp on the Gold Coast from Sunday-Tuesday.
The Reds have the bye next week while the Brumbies will return to Suncorp Stadium to play the Fijian Drua.
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