Captain Smith stays grounded after leading Reds to top of Super Rugby table

Reds captain Ryan Smith sought to temper expectations after leading his team to a narrow 28-24 victory over the Western Force on Saturday that took the Australian outfit to the top of the Super Rugby Pacific standings.

The Reds have replaced the Chiefs at the summit after seven rounds, with Les Kiss' side holding a one-point lead over the New Zealanders as a result of the Lang Park win.

The pair will face off in Hamilton on Friday with the Clayton McMillan-coached Chiefs well rested after a bye week, and Smith is not celebrating his side's ascent given there is more than half of the regular season to go.

"It's a cool achievement but there's definitely some tough games coming up," said Smith. "No point being in this round and being top of the table, you've got to be deep into the finals. That's where it's important.

"We're setting ourselves up for the tail end of the season, which is great, but we've got to look at it week-by-week and we've got a pretty tough test next week."

Queensland eventually prevailed in a see-saw battle against the Force, needing a 72nd minute try from replacement scrum-half Tate McDermott to see off the sixth-placed outfit.

While the margin of victory was slim and the manner of the win was less than convincing, Smith was pleased his team still managed to pick up the points.

"It was pretty sloppy but I think that's really impressive, it showed the depth that we have and we can find the way to win deep into games," said Smith.

"That's a really important trait that the team's showing at the moment. I think the boys did a great job deep into that game."