Cooper hurt as Reds ‘robbed’

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QUADE Cooper is certain to miss the Wallabies' three-Test series against France next month after his collarbone injury squeezed further torture into the failed season of the Queensland Reds.

The Reds agony compounded into a sixth-straight loss in a late 30-27 tumble to the Melbourne Rebels when reserve lock Ed O'Donoghue was sent off for allegedly raking the eyes of Scott Higginbotham at Suncorp Stadium.

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Reds skipper James Horwill was a picture of anguish on full-time and cursed the refereeing decision of Steve Walsh to banish O'Donoghue which handed Rebels goalkicker Jason Woodward a winning shot at penalty goal from in front with a minute to play.

"We were gutsy but in the end we were again robbed by a stupid refereeing decision," Horwill said with emotion still high in an on-field interview with Fox Sports.

The Reds were setting up for a lineout 25m out from the Rebels tryline inside the final two minutes when Walsh's tough judge alerted him to the O'Donoghue-Higginbotham tussle on the turf.

"Are you saying hands in his eyes?" Walsh asked. When the answer was "yes" he whistled O'Donoghue and marched the Reds 50m downfield to their doom.

Horwill pleaded for Walsh to examine an alleged headbutt as the trigger to the O'Donoghue but got no reward as the Rebels celebrated their first ever win over a Reds team now on their worst losing streak since 2008.

Ed O'Donoughe was red carded for 'hands in the eyes' of Rebels skipper Scott Higginbotham. Source: FoxSports

Cooper had played every minute of the Reds' 11 games this season until disaster struck just eight minutes into last night's clash.

Australia's first-choice flyhalf to end 2013 was trying to ignite the Reds with a hop-stepping run down the left touchline when he was tackled. When he was jammed awkwardly into the turf in the tumble of bodies that followed his distress was obvious.

An AC joint injury to his left shoulder shapes as a costly month on the sidelines.

It would rule him out of the opening two Tests against France on June 7 and 14 and mostly likely mean he sits out the June 21 finale in Sydney as well.

The Cooper drama was the last thing needed by Test coach Ewen McKenzie, who was in the stands making final assessments for his 32-man Wallabies squad to be named on Thursday.

With Cooper now sidelined, ACT Brumbies No. 10 Matt Toomua would seem certain to step up in the playmaking role against the French.

Quade Cooper leaves the field after injuring his collarbone at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Peter Wallis Source: News Corp Australia

It also potentially creates a starting position for Kurtley Beale at inside centre although McKenzie may even consider flipping those roles so effective was Toomua at inside centre on last year's Wallabies tour.

The first drama to the night erupted after just 40 seconds when Rebels skipper Higginbotham was sin-binned for a late, high contact when he jumped into Reds fullback Mike Harris after he'd unleashed a clearing kick.

The Reds ruthlessly crossed within two minutes. Two James Hanson rumbles in tight were as important as three sharp Cooper passes, one of which found Harris, who stepped over.

Higginbotham was warming up to return when the injured Cooper slowly walked off.

The Rebels' intensity in the tackle knocked back Reds runners frequently but the cohesion to their attack was harder to find. When they did they uncorked a 75m ripper that was equal parts Rebels sharpness and appalling Reds defence.

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Fullback Jason Woodward popped the final ball to tryscorer Tom Kingston but five or six defenders either missed tackles or had no back-up to shut down an off-load.

When the Reds were down 17-10 late in the first half they had their passive line speed in defence to curse again because Rebels halfback Luke Burgess skated 20m in a diagonal run to the tryline through Hanson, Genia, Anthony Faingaa, Harris and Dom Shipperley.

It was all heart that kept the Reds alive by pegging back parlous 17-10, 24-17 and 27-24 deficits to lock up the scores each time but the side's defensive structure has deserted them.

A sixth-straight defeat is the Reds' worst sequence since 2008 and leaves them stranded in the basement of the Australian conference.

Relive all the Reds v Rebels action in our match blog below.

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