The Queensland Reds have escaped one of the great Super Rugby Pacific scares of 2026, with fullback Jock Campbell finishing off a set-play try in the 79th minute to deny Moana Pasifika a famous Auckland upset and seal a 33-31 win at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday.
Queensland had led 26-7 early in the second half. They were on the verge of locking down a finals berth in cruise control. And then the wheels fell off. Augustine Pulu, Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa and a barnstorming Israel Leota turned the second half into a tidal wave of Pasifika attack — Leota scored twice, a penalty try went the home side's way, and with minutes remaining the Reds were trailing 31-26.
Coach Les Kiss emptied the bench and dialled up the playbook. From a five-metre scrum, the Reds ran a pre-rehearsed set play, the line moved together, and Campbell finished under the posts. 33-31. Game.
"They came home with a wet sail," Campbell told reporters after the siren. "It was a set play for us, and thankfully it worked."
Campbell's two tries on the day — his second the matchwinner from the scrum — have re-opened the conversation about a Wallabies recall after a four-year hiatus from the gold jersey. The CODE Sports headline on Saturday morning, "Performance pushes Campbell to brink of ending four-year Wallabies hiatus," wrote itself.
Wing Treyvon Pritchard — the PNG Chiefs-bound prospect whose price tag, Nine.com.au reported on Saturday, has been "bumped up" by recent performances — was again among the Reds try scorers. Tim Ryan crossed twice and lock Josh Canham scored from a maul to round out a five-try Queensland day that flattered the home half-hour.
For Moana Pasifika, the result extends the longest current losing streak in Super Rugby Pacific to twelve games — but coach Tana Umaga's side will arrive in the dressing room with their dignity intact, perhaps even enhanced.
"It's been an emotional week, another tough one with all that's going on," Umaga said after the game. "If we're here, let's do it well."
The praise from rugby observers was unanimous. Leota's late try — a sliding, balletic finish from a kick chase — was singled out by The Post as a contender for try of the season. Pulu, the 36-year-old former All Blacks scrum-half who has reinvented himself in Pasifika colours, ran the side's tempo to the brink of the upset.
Wildkard, the Australian-based Super Rugby Pacific analyst, captured the Reds' near-miss bluntly in his round 15 review.
"The Moana Pasifika almost put up an upset today against the Reds. You know, last minute the Reds had a nice little play out of a scrum for I think it was Jock Campbell winning for the try. But if it wasn't for that, Moana Pasifika could have had a massive, massive upset over the Reds. And yeah, really positioned everybody in a much better, much more of a contest going into the final week."
The consequences for both sides are immediate. The win seals Queensland's top-six finish and a quarter-final next weekend. The how, after eighty minutes in Auckland, may take a little longer to be forgiven by Kiss. Pritchard, in particular, looms as a selection question for the playoffs given his PNG Chiefs commitments.
The Drua's home fixture against the Reds in Suva next Saturday is now a straight playoff for the last finals seat — with the Western Force on standby should Queensland slip up against a Fijian side desperate to spoil the script.
For Moana, the road continues. Twelve straight losses and counting — but on the evidence of North Harbour Stadium, the wins are no longer far away. Umaga's calmness in the face of the result reflected a coach who has seen, on Saturday, how close his rebuild is.
