The Waratahs claimed the Aussie bragging rights after a slightly laboured 18-11 Super 14 victory over their State of Origin rivals, the Reds, in Brisbane on Saturday.

The 'Tahs managed to secure a home semifinal next weekend after outscoring the Reds by two tries to one in the encounter.

The State of Origin derby is always synonymous with pride, guts and fierce competition.

This year was no different, but the fact that the fixture took place right at the end of a taxing Super 14 season, meant that there were 30 weary bodies battling it out on the Suncorp Stadium turf.

The match was never an amazing spectacle of rugby, but rather a hard slog, a trench battle. There was a lot of pride at stake, and the big difference on the log standings didn't mean much on the day.

But the better team did prevail, even though they were not at their best.

Once the match got underway, there was plenty of action in the central areas of the pitch, but not much of it was effective.

The first ten minutes went by without too much scoring threat.

The Waratahs had the first scoring opportunities, courtesy of two penalties within a couple of minutes within kicking range.

Up stepped 19-year-old flyhalf Kurtley Beale, but the youngster showed some early nerves in this massively important encounter, hooking the first attempt, then overcompensating and pushing the second attempt to the right of the target.

That left the scoreboard blank after 14 minutes.

The Reds scrum was showing signs of cracking against the underrated 'Tahs pack.

Both teams seemed intent to gain territory rather than play rugby, and there was a lot of kicking early on. It was clear that the prevalent attitude was that nobody wanted to make a mistake.

But eventually the 'Tahs got control of the ball after a turnover in the Reds 22, and suddenly the heat was on. The Reds couldn't hold out in defence, and Dean Mumm crashed over to open the scoring in the 21st minute.

Beale added the easy conversion from almost in front of the posts, to make it 7-0 for the visitors.

More arm-wrestling took place, as one would expect from a match of this nature, with no-one relenting.

The Reds were then awarded a penalty within range, and Clinton Schifcofske was instructed by captain James Horwill to go for posts.

A little comic relief followed when the buggy that transports the kicking tee to Schifcofske, broke down en route. But it didn't distract Schifcofske from his task, and he put his team on the scoreboard on 34 minutes.

Beale had another chance to extend the lead for the New South Wales franchise, but again he made a mess of it.

A few minutes later though, the 'Tahs did manage to inflict some more damage in the home team.

The Waratahs stole a line-out just outside the Reds 22, through Rocky Elsom. He secured the ball and the 'Tahs looked like setting up a driving maul. But the Reds defenders went AWOL for a second, and eighthman Wycliff Palu took full advantage as he burst straight through the centre of the maul. There was no Reds cover in sight, and Palu raced 30 metres to score, with only Peter Hynes trying in vain to stop the big loose forward.

That made the score 12-3 to the visitors just before half time. Kurtley Beale's day went from bad to worse, as he missed his fourth kick of the half.

Would those eleven points squandered by Beale come back to haunt the 'Tahs? The half time whistle meant that they could go and discuss that in the changing room.

The second half kicked off with the visiting team from Sydney looking to re-establish dominance. It wasn't long before they managed to spread the ball wide, and releasing Wallaby Lote Tuqiri on an enterprising run down the touchline. Tuqiri flicked an audacious pass inside to his support runners, but he stuck a foot in touch.

The Reds used the resultant possession to make their way downfield, and Berrick Barnes popped over a cheeky drop goal after finding a little time and space.

That reduced the Reds deficit to six points. 6-12 after 44 minutes.

The Reds were clearly still in the contest, despite being outscored by two tries to none at this stage.

They were awarded another penalty, and opted to go for goal once again. It was a long way out, and Schifcofske would have to blast the ball around 45 to 50 metres to make the kick successful.

He had the line but not the distance, as the ball was fielded under the crossbar. So 6-12 it remained, with 28 minutes to play.

The Reds were getting slightly loose in their approach, and Quade Cooper nearly gifted a try to the visitors when he made an absolute hash of a box kick, which slid off his shin and went nowhere.

The 'Tahs recovered and were on the attack, as the Reds scrambled desperately in defence. Schifcofske went offside at the ruck, and Beale had a chance to line up another penalty attempt.

This time he made no mistake from in front of the posts, and improved his goal statistic to two from five attempts. The scoreboard read 6-15 in the 64th minute.

It wasn't long before Beale had yet another chance, and again he converted to make it 18-6 for the 'Tahs. Perhaps he changed his unlucky boots at half time.

The Waratahs were now in sight of a home semifinal. They had to hold on for a bit over ten minutes to make that a reality.

The Reds tried frantically to concoct a try in the closing minutes, but they were too frantic. Rodney Blake thought he was wearing the No.11 jersey, and fancied a few runs on the wing. Unfortunately it became apparent why he is a prop, as a few moves broke down with the big man.

But the Reds were not going to give up, even though they were out of reach of a positive result at this stage.

They kept plugging away, even after the siren sounded that time had elapsed. And their endeavour paid off too, as Berrick Barnes' delicate chip bounced kindly for Peter Hynes, who collected and slid over the try-line with the Waratahs defenders all over him.

Schifcofske couldn't convert, but the home team at least managed to sign off their season with a try, despite losing the bragging rights once again to their high-flying opponents.

The 'Tahs looked weary, but they had done it. The 18-11 victory meant that they secured that coveted home semifinal berth, and were now untouchable in second place on the points table.

The result also meant that the remaining two away semifinal spots were up for grabs for the Sharks and the Stormers, if they could find the resolve to engineer bonus points and win their respective Saturday matches.

Man of the match: The Reds didn't have much to shout about, but centre Morgan Turinui continued his great form, and showed his former NSW teammates what they are missing with some blistering line-breaks.

Moment of the match: Wycliff Palu's bursting run for the 'Tahs second try.

Scorers:

For the Reds:
Try: Hynes
Pen: Schifcofske
DG: Barnes

For the Waratahs:
Tries: Mumm, Palu
Con: Beale
Pens: Beale 2

Teams:

Reds: 15 Clinton Schifcofske, 14 Brando Va'aulu, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Ben Lucas, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 David Croft, 6 Poutasi Luafutu, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Van Humphries, 3 Dayna Edwards, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Coutts.
Replacements: 16 Sean Hardman, 17 Rodney Blake, 18 Ed O'Donoghue, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Charlie Fetoai, 22 Caleb Brown.

Waratahs: 15 Sam Norton-Knight, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Timana Tahu, 12 Tom Carter, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Will Caldwell, 19 David Lyons, 20 Brett Sheehan, 21 Matt Carraro, 22 Rob Horne.

Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges: James Leckie (Australia), Damian Mitchelmore (Australia)
Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia)

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