Reds dynamic duo Quade Cooper and Will Genia need more attacking options The Queensland Reds lose ground on the Brumbies in the Australian Super Rugby conference after suffering a 20-15 loss to the Stormers. TRAPPED: Will Genia is caught by the Stormers' defence. THE precision play that defined yesterday's slugfest in Cape Town was straight from the Quade Cooper attack manual, which is cold comfort because it was used to slay the Reds. A cross-field kick-pass ignited a 75m classic for Stormers skipper Jean de Villiers as a match of Test-style defence ended in a 20-15 loss for the Reds. Cooper and other on-field gamblers like him have opened the eyes of rugby to what is now possible on the field. It is also fact that no matter how good the Roger Federer serve, or how good the Cooper pass and shimmy, opponents do grow to read and counter them better. The Stormers defence in this game was every bit as organised and suffocating as the Wallabies will confront when the British and Irish Lions start their visit in just over a week. Cooper created half-chances, but that's what they remained. That was partly because of some indifferent handling by support players, but also because the flyhalf pushed an offload or two and threw a forward pass. Rather than show that the Reds can struggle for firepower when Cooper and Will Genia are hemmed in, it highlighted that every team needs to evolve. Weapons beyond this pair are needed to re-arm the Reds for 2014. Losing Scott Higginbotham to the Melbourne Rebels this year and Digby Ioane to France next season are two huge holes that can't be covered by mere industrious workers. The Reds have been wonderfully stable as a playing group under Ewen McKenzie. New head coach Richard Graham has to find some X-factor additions for 2014 or the Reds may slip a notch. The difference between Super Rugby success, built on hosting home finals, and just making the playoffs for a tough away game is fine indeed. The Reds clawed ahead of the Stormers 15-14, but botching the kick-off that followed and conceding a crunch penalty goal was one of those season-changing moments. McKenzie is adamant there is nothing drastically amiss with the Reds attack despite scoring just six tries across their past five matches. "We scored four tries in a half against the Sharks and got over the tryline a bunch of times against the Cheetahs when getting ball on the grass was the trouble," McKenzie said. All sides have trouble scoring against the Stormers ... but we do have to get it right against the Rebels. Chiefs (52 pts from 13 games) v Bye, Hurricanes (H), Crusaders (A), Blues (A) Bulls (50 from 12) v Cheetahs (A), Kings (H), Sharks (H), Stormers (A) Brumbies (50 from 13) v Hurricanes (H), Rebels (H), Force (A) Cheetahs (45 from 13) v Bulls (H), Stormers (A), Blues (H), Bye Reds (45 from 14) v Rebels (H), Bye, Waratahs (A) Crusaders (42 from 12) v Waratahs (H), Highlanders (A), Chiefs (H), Hurricanes (H) Blues (42 from 12) v Highlanders (A), Sharks (A), Cheetahs (A), Chiefs (H) Waratahs (39 from 13) v Crusaders (A), Force (A), Reds (H) Longshot to catch Brumbies for direct entry as Australian Conference winner to spots No.1, 2 or 3 Wildcard entry as seed No.4, 5 or 6 is likely by beating Rebels and Waratahs Wildcard entry to top 6 aided by 7th-placed Blues having toughest run home Home semi-final chance is a long shot Must finish 4th for home qualifying final