Ex-NRL star's 'heart in mouth' moment stuns

1 year ago 81

There were tense moments successful the Queensland Reds campy arsenic Suliasi Vunivalu looked to person done himself a mischief disconnected the backmost of a superb intercept.

The erstwhile Melbourne Storm prima was close astatine location astatine AAMI Park successful the Super Round closer, sprinting distant from the Western Force defence to tally the magnitude of the field

Then, wrong a fewer metres of the effort line, helium began to dilatory and past hopped successful symptom earlier falling to the ground.

The chasing trio each leapt connected Vunivalu, but helium reached retired and planted the shot successful extremity to people his sole effort of the match.

After the 71-20 onslaught successful circular 2 of Super Rugby Pacific, the Reds confirmed Vunivalu had suffered cramp.

There was crushed for interest astatine the time, fixed Vunivalu's past with injury. In 2021, helium sat retired the Rugby Championship due to a hamstring tear.

The erstwhile NRL star, who joined the Reds successful 2020, is eyeing an accidental with the Wallabies and a changeable astatine this year's Rugby World Cup successful France.

Watch the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific play connected the location of rugby, Stan Sport. All matches streaming advertisement free, unrecorded and connected demand

"That runaway effort was heart-in-mouth worldly to watch, peculiarly towards the end," said Stan Sport commentator Nick McArdle.

Former Wallabies planetary Morgan Turinui added, "It's a tempo run. I've ne'er seen a feline truthful speedy astatine 50 per cent.

"When a feline takes the enactment interruption you'd deliberation they'd sprint, but past it looked similar the calf cramped – and hopefully not a teardrop – past helium gets there."

Josh Flook, who was trailing Vunivalu and scored the last effort of the match, said helium was struggling too.

"I was coming up connected his right, I was successful the aforesaid vessel a bit, I was cramping up hoping helium would get there," said Flook.

'Biggest people ever' successful Reds history

"It was conscionable a small cramp, archetypal crippled backmost evidently putting successful a large shift. He played a truly bully game."

Vunivalu's effort was 1 of 10 successful what was the last lucifer of Super Round successful Melbourne.

That matched the astir fig of tries for the Reds successful Super Rugby Pacific history, equalling their effort against the Sunwolves.

The Reds caput to the superior to play the Brumbies successful circular three.

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