Rod Davies crossed for three tries and flyhalf Quade Cooper was brilliant in every facet except his place kicking as Queensland beat Auckland 30-13 Saturday to secure a home Super 15 final. The Reds, who finished atop the standings at the end of the regular season, scored four tries to one in the win over the Blues and will meet either the Cape Town-based Stormers or the Canterbury Crusaders next weekend in Brisbane, where they've only lost once this season. The Reds' revival under Ewen McKenzie has been remarkable over the last two seasons, lifting from 13th place in 2009 to now reach their first final since the Super 12 kicked off in 1996. “It's a reward for the effort the boys have put in,” Queensland captain James Horwill said. “It's exciting, but there's a job to be done so we've just got to keep a lid on that, build up to it. It's well documented we had darker days ... a lot of this group was a part of it. To now be playing a home grand final is a massive achievement, but the last hurdle is the hardest one.” Davies was the first Queenslander to score a Super rugby hat trick, the speedster playing a pivotal role in bringing the final to Australia for the first time since the Canberra-based ACT Brumbies' premiership in 2004. Auckland beat New South Wales at home last weekend in the first weekend of the playoffs but went down in Brisbane for the second time this season. Tonga beats Fiji Flyhalf Kurt Morath kicked 20 points as Tonga upset Fiji 45-21 in the opening match of the Pacific Nations Cup Saturday, damaging the home side's billing as the top Pacific hope at this year's Rugby World Cup. Fiji entered the match as a warm favorite but started poorly and found itself down 23-9 and the match almost lost by halftime. A penalty try helped Tonga build a 33-9 lead 10 minutes into the second half before Fiji rallied with two tries to cut the margin to 33-21. Tonga's lead briefly looked shaky but it recovered its momentum to score two tries in the game's last three minutes, through Vilimi Iongi and Alisona Taumalolo, for an emphatic victory. In Tonga, wing back Alesana Tuilagi scored two tries to lead Samoa to a 34-15 victory over Japan in another match. __
