Chiefs captain Craig Clarke said that the Reds had found a weakness around the fringes of the ruck which allowed the Queenslanders to win 42-27 in Brisbane.

The Chiefs missed the chance to go 10 matches unbeaten when they lost to the Reds but earned a bonus point for scoring four tries.

"We were definitely outplayed, especially just after half-time when the Reds got on a roll and took us on around the fringes and got a couple of tries," Clarke said.

"I guess the areas where we will be working on are around the fringes of the ruck where they took us on and the lineout drive where they scored, but the other parts of our game were pretty good."

The Chiefs have a bye next weekend so they are gauranteed four points and have a record of played eleven matches and lost two.

Reds captain James Horwill paid credit to his team after they took a big step up from the start of the second half which propelled them to their sixth victory from eleven matches.

"We had to really give it to them at the start of the second half and set it up and credit to our guys, we did that," said Horwill.

"We knew they were a very good defensive side and they fan quite well, so we had to dent their defensive line and we did that close to the ruck."