Wallaby star Kurtley Beale repaid the Rebels in his return from suspension but he couldn’t help them secure an upset win over the Chiefs.
In a see-sawing encounter the Super Rugby defending champions held on for a 39-33 win at AAMI Park, holding off a late Rebels surge.
It was the third narrow loss in a row and delivered more heartbreak for the young side.
The Chiefs scored four tries in the opening half – three by fullback Gareth Anscombe – to secure a bonus point at AAMI Park before the break and two in the second half.
Last round the Chiefs did the same against the Sharks before letting the South Africans back into the match and were forced to scramble to a late win.
Beale had missed the last six games; first through a broken hand and then suspension for a drunken altercation with two Rebels.
He returned to Melbourne this week with his teammates giving him the green light to play.
Beale came on at fullback in the 47th minute and made an inauspicious start; kicking the ball out on the full in the re-start.
But he showed he had lost none of his electric pace and skills as he helped set up a second try to lock Hugh Pyle.
He and fellow playmaker James O’Connor then combined to send Nick Phipps in under the posts before the 24-year-old split the defence and raced to the tryline himself in the 75th minute.
That made the scoreline 39-33 and put the Rebels right back in the hunt.
That appeared to be short-lived when Anscombe looked to have scored his fourth, only for the Television Match Official to declare an earlier knock-on.
Melbourne then took control of the ball and hammered the Chiefs tryline in the dying minutes but couldn’t find a way through to get the points they needed.
Skipper Scott Higginbotham delivered another inspired performance, scoring a try in the first half along with Pyle’s.
They were at one stage down 24-7, with Anscombe scoring twice within six minutes but fought back to 24-12 at the break.
With their three second half tries the Rebels finished with two bonus points, for scoring their five tries and finishing within seven points but it wasn’t the win they desperately sought.
Rebels coach Damien Hill was disappointed to be in the same position three weeks running.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” he said.
“The challenge for us now is that we don’t lose heart and we continue the path that we’re on.”
Hill plans to put Beale straight back into the starting side next Saturday against the Blues in Auckland.
“He was electric, he added so much to our attack,” Hill said.
“Two of those combinations he had with James (O’Connor); one led to a line-break and one led to a try so I hope Kurtley gets a lot of confidence out of that.”
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie said his side wasn’t finishing matches.
“We had the game under control a number of times and through a lack of rugby nouse and decision making, we gifted the ball back and gave up a couple of soft tries and put ourselves under pressure.
“We lack killer instinct at the moment.
“We get ourselves in a strong position and we should put the foot on the throat and finish it off but we put ourselves under stress.”
Jerry
Guest
"they were too soft to make their cheap shots count" - Uh, JOC went off injured. Out of interest is George Smith a grub?
ibruggered
Guest
Victor. Suggest you look up the laws regarding a forward pass. For once, the commentators are correct when they discuss whether the ball travel backwards out of the hands. While you're at it, you need to search the physics behind a pass (especially at pace). What is actually baffling, is the continued ignorance of what constitutes a forward pass from spectators, and the ridiculous use of the TMO to judge one. Unless an overhead camera is employed it's a very dubious use of the technology (or they focus solely on whether the ball 'travels backwards from the hands' which would still be problematic). If the referees (and their 'assistants') did their job, the TMO wouldn't be necessary for that particular ruling. Perhaps it's time to consider 4 linesmen, I mean assistant refs.
Jutsie
Guest
the try was after the late hit. so there shouldn't even be an argument about whether the ball was knocked on by the chiefs or not in the lead up to the try as the ref should have gone back to the penalty for the late hit. Im a rebels fan too and dont think cane should get any weeks but he is still a grub (like his mate retallick) and shouldve got a yellow. the only thing that saved either of them from further action is that they were too soft to make their cheap shots count.
SkinnyKid
Roar Rookie
Rebels fan? yes Happy with the tackle? No I just dont think its worth citation. Its rugby mate. Move on.
deanp
Guest
Robert George Deans
Dan H
Guest
Southeast qld grew up in south auckland (papakura) and moved to the waikato for a bit before here.
moaman
Roar Guru
" they would say that now,wouldn't they"? "They"??
Darth Vadar
Guest
Bob Deans who?????
Darth Vadar
Guest
which game were you watching?
Darth Vadar
Guest
I would have late hit JOC for that hair cut alone
Darth Vadar
Guest
You're kidding right short and blind! What about Rougerie's eye gouging of Richie McCaw??????
Jerry
Guest
Wait, you'll concede something that is clearly apparent from any video footage only if I accept the rest of your argument? Why would I need to accept anything - anyone can see it's not high and if you don't accept you were either mistaken or making things up earlier, you simply appear even more deluded or mendacious. But I'll play along. Late - yep, the ball was well gone. Illegal - well, we've established it was late, so yes. Dangerous - it was a rugby tackle. It's inherently dangerous. It's probably more dangerous in this case as JOC wouldn't have been expecting it and got blindsided. So, ok - yes. Marginally dangerous. Deserving of a citing? Well, here's the rub. Was it a red card offence? Not in my view, and that's the thresh-hold for a citing remember. I've seen loads of tackles far worse than that which haven't been yellow carded. So, nah - I think I won't concede your points. You can refuse to concede that the tackle wasn't high despite it clearly not being high and everyone who reads your posts can laugh at you.
Harry
Guest
I'll concede that when you concede it was late, dangerous, illegal and deserving of a citing - all of which it clearly was.
Jerry
Guest
Sad trombone.
Jiggles
Roar Guru
Except this year...
Jerry
Guest
Out of interest Dan, where do you live?
Jerry
Guest
Everyone whinges a lot as sports fans. In terms of rugby, I would actually dispute that NZ whinges more than most for the simple reason that winners are grinners and NZ teams win most of the time.
deanp
Guest
I'm a Kiwi, but it's funny how so many are quick to assume you are not if you make any comment that is not one hundred percent pro-Kiwi. As this is an .au website I'm guessing that a lot of the Kiwi posters in here are non-residents of NZ, more than likely they are Oz-residents. It's amusing how many Kiwis become super-patriots once they leave the country.
Dan H
Guest
Hahaha the funny thing is im a kiwi and you quoted me. Ill stand by what ive said I don't support or dislike any of the teams from last night. The standard of on the field refereeing was atrocious. In fact in the case of the stormers I think it actually cost them the game. Im sick of it being such a noticeable and influential issue because like I said last night if I was a stormers supporter I would be cracking it. In saying that the stormers should also shoulder alot of the blame they shot themselves in the foot a number of times.
deanp
Guest
Jerry, I'm not sure I follow. While I don't deny that everyone whinges from time to time, you would surely agree that Kiwis whinge on an industrial scale, would you not?