Reigning Super Rugby Champions the Reds held off a second half comeback from the Force to win the match 35-20 in Brisbane.

The Reds went into the match as heavy favourites but half way through the second half the Force had clawed back to trail by six points and an upset looked like it could be on the cards.

The Reds however pulled together and three penalties from flyhalf Mike Harris gave the Reds some breathing space.

Both teams scored two tries each with the pick of the tries coming from Reds veteran No.8 Radike Samo who ran 65m to score the Reds second try.

The star of the match however was Mike Harris who maintained his 100% kicking statistic with seven penalties and two conversions and has yet to miss a kick this season.

Harris, deputizing for injured playmaker Quade Cooper, equaled a Queensland record set by World Cup-winning captain John Eales in 1996 with his nine kicks from nine.

Harris now has an amazing 24 goals from 24 attempts in Super Rugby over the past two seasons and has amassed 45 points this season to lift the Reds to the top of the Australian Conference.

But the fly-half's consummate goalkicking in Brisbane masked a scrappy performance from both teams with the Reds relinquishing their grip on the game with a 26-6 lead early in the second half only to be pulled back to 26-20 midway through the half.

"I am pleased with the win, but not how we got it," Reds' Wallaby skipper James Horwill said.

"Once again our ball control was poor, we didn't play the (wet) conditions, and when we did we looked good, but we just didn't do it often enough.

"To allow them to score two very soft tries, that's not good enough."

Emerging centre Ben Tapuai scored the Reds' opening try in the 20th minute charging up the left sideline and beating two tackles.

Wallaby backrower Radike Samo scored a 55-metre runaway intercept try as the Reds went into half-time leading 23-6.

Samo recreated his memorable IRB try of the year against New Zealand in Brisbane last August when he cleared away to the delight of the 33,563 Brisbane crowd after steaming onto a James Stannard inside ball from a scrum move.

But just when the Reds appeared to have a bonus point in their sights, the Force hit back through tries by inspirational skipper David Pocock and five minutes later Stannard brushed aside some weak attempts to score under the crossbar.

Harris kicked the Reds to safety with three more penalty goals as Force paid for their ill-discipline.

Queensland were more clinical, kicked better and were smarter in their option-taking than the win-less Force.

While the Force forward pack held their own and constantly pressured at the breakdown and set-piece, their attack made too many errors throughout the first half whenever they got themselves into try-scoring positions.

The Reds will take their unbeaten start in against the Melbourne Rebels in Brisbane next Saturday, while the Force will have their first home game against New Zealand's Hurricanes on Friday.

Final Score Reds 35 (23) Force 20 (6)

Scorers

Reds
Tries - B. Tapuai, R. Samo
Pen - M. Harris 7
Con - M. Harris 2
Drop -
Cards -

Force
Tries - D. Pocock, J. Stannard
Pen - J. Stannard 3
Con - J. Stannard 2
Drop -
Cards -

Match Officials
Referee: Ian Smith
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Moore
Assistant Referee 2: Andrew Lees
TMO: Steve Leszczynski

Teams

Reds

1. Ben Daley, 2. Albert Anae, 3. James Slipper, 4. Rob Simmons, 5. James Horwill (c), 6. Jake Schatz, 7. Beau Robinson, 8. Radike Samo, 9. Will Genia (vc), 10. Mike Harris, 11. Digby Ioane, 12. Jono Lance, 13. Ben Tapuai, 14. Dom Shipperley, 15. Luke Morahan.

Replacements : 16. James Hanson, 17. Greg Holmes, 18. Van Humphries, 19. Liam Gill, 20. Eddie Quirk, 21. Ben Lucas, 22. Rod Davies.

Force

1. Pek Cowan, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Salesi Ma'afu, 4. Toby Lynn, 5. Nathan Sharpe, 6. Matt Hodgson, 7. David Pocock (c), 8. Ben McCalman, 9. Brett Sheehan, 10. James Stannard, 11. Napolioni Nalaga, 12. Winston Stanley, 13. Patrick Dellit, 14. Nick Cummins, 15. Alfie Mafi.

Replacements: 16. Ben Whittaker, 17. Kieran Longbottom, 18. Phoenix Battye, 19. Angus Cottrell, 20. Ben Seymour, 21. Rory Sidey, 22. Sam Wara.