The Melbourne Rebels were brought crashing back to earth in brutal fashion on Saturday night with a shock 32-7 Super Rugby loss to the Western Force in Perth.
The Rebels had been irresistible in last week’s 35-14 demolition of the Cheetahs, while the Force looked set for a long season after being thumped by the Waratahs and Brumbies in their opening two games.
But the Force turned things around in dramatic style, scoring four tries in the opening 27 minutes on the way to the bonus-point victory in front of 9895 fans.
Watch highlights from the Force vs Rebels clash:
The Rebels were held scoreless until substitute Telusa Veainu scored a belated try after the fulltime siren.
The win lifted the Force off the bottom of the table, and snapped their four-game losing streak against the Rebels.
Skipper Matt Hodgson scored a try in his 100th match for the Force, while flanker Angus Cottrell, former Reds winger Luke Morahan and scrumhalf Alby Mathewson also scored.
The Force led 32-0 at halftime, with scrumhalf Mathewson key to the early onslaught.
The Rebels were beaten in nearly every aspect of the game, with the Force enjoying 75 per cent possession in the opening 30 minutes.
Rebels coach Tony McGahan made a surprising six changes to his starting line-up, and the mass changes backfired badly as the Force took control from the outset.
Mathewson started the riot in the second minute when he sold the dummy to Rebels lock Caderyn Neville before strolling over.
Hodgson’s bravery then set up the second try, with the former Wallaby launching himself at a high ball to open the door for Morahan to cross.
And the inspirational skipper had a try for himself in the 24th minute when he pounced on a lucky bounce.
The four-try bonus point was in the bag by the 27th minute when Rebels flyhalf Angus Roberts dropped a high ball, allowing Cottrell to cross a few phases later.
McGahan had seen enough by that point, dragging prop Max Lahiff and lock Neville from the field in a desperate bid to spark his side.
Flyhalf Bryce Hegarty was also thrown into the fray at halftime and the changes paid dividends as the Rebels stemmed the flow.
However, it was too little, too late as the Force cruised to their first win of the year to celebrate Hodgson’s milestone in grand style.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Agree CH, I think you have a really good squad and 13 is the weak point. Perhaps Holmes to fullback, Hayward to one wing and Cummins moves in one as you say.
Anthony
Roar Rookie
tragic gambler.
Old Bugger
Guest
BB This is McGahan's fist season in the hot seat and he's taken this team thru' 3 trials and 2 comp games. Surely, even you have to admit that even the best of coaches would struggle to be so knowledgable about their side after 5 matches. I'm sure he's answered a lot of questions for himself after that display and that would apply to a lot of the players who were in the 23. The best thing is - they as a side all know where they are in terms of personal development and SR exposure, they've all been given a run and they all know what they need to do for the next 17rounds if they want to be challenging for a finals spot in the AU conference. It's back to the drawing boards, keep the head down and bum up and count their lucky stars, that there are17 rounds to go. They will be working like crazy from now on to make sure they don't get a similar bollocking during the remainder of the comp.
Old Bugger
Guest
Spanners This is only the second comp game for McGahan and if there's one huge question he has answered then it's simple - he won't be starting any future match with that line-up again. As for the players - well that's simple too. STOP reading the newspapers and watching TV during the week. They all let themselves down by thinking they just had to turn up and the opposition would just roll-over cos that's exactly what the news reports were suggesting all week. They got what they deserved - a royal thumping after that dismal display.
Justin3
Guest
Hot one day cold the next, he was woeful in the match v nsw I think it was.
James
Guest
lol. you wonder why Wallabies are so poor. Its also in the mindset of its fans, They are willing to play anyone that plays well including cats and dogs
DJW
Guest
Yes the Force! Teach the arrogant coach of the rebels to make six changes. Great way to celebrate Hodgo 100th. Felt much better leaving the Force Field this week. We were a bit aimless in the second half but were only doing what we need to do being 32 up. Coleman was awesome in the line outs when he came on, a couple of steals. Alby copped a bit of flack for his first two games so good to seem him back to his best.
Johnno
Guest
I'd love those players, but i just wanna settle for Danny Cipriani,Gareth Delve,Albe Mathewson,James Haskell types, all good enough. These types do come out here, and these types are in super rugby now. Heck the stormers signed a samoa winger. In all of south africa, the stormers fancied a samoan winger, who played for samoa at the last world cup, so will never be able to be Bok.
Tane Mahuta
Guest
BOD!!!? *sighs* sure Johnno, get BOD to the postpone retirement, to take a pay cut, to move away from family and play for the Force. They should get G.North too.
Tane Mahuta
Guest
Yeah, the Georgians would love to take a pay cut to move to the other side of the earth.
Billy Bob
Guest
Gator, not knowing what your best team is? That's a bit of a coach excuse. There's last years form and this years trials, surely enough to base a good guess upon. I agree with another above - if it ain't broke don't fix it.
AndyS
Guest
Not particularly, merely observing that when the Force has one of those games it is more about them than the opposition and the Rebels coach resting players likely had little or no significance.
Johnno
Guest
I would if the ARU were cool with it Magic Sponge, get some Georgian props, and BOD, at the expense of inadaquate locals, Man up.
Magic Sponge
Guest
Johnno give ODriscoll a call and some of your Georgian mates
James P
Guest
Completely agree that Hegarty is a work in progress - but he is typically solid. Roberts just doesn't look like he is good enough at the moment. I think Hilgendorf was a better backup 10
Daz
Guest
Yes maybe there was a bit of complacency on the part of the Rebels like we can make six changes and still beat these guys. It would be interesting to know how much the Force used that as motivation in their build up. Just the same if they can do that one week they should be able to do it every week.
Johnno
Guest
They still do 1 win at home vs the rebels, big deal Tane. The away form will return to there awful selves. Still lack the depth.
Mike
Guest
This is good for Australian rugby, far more than if Force had just been the easy-beats. I don't know if they will win many more from here on in (and meaning no disrespect to them by that) but every team will take them seriously.
Mike
Guest
Not entirely. Hegarty only played the first 45 minutes at 10 vs Highlanders last year. While he was at 10, Rebels were hammered 4 tries to 1. O'Connor was then brought on at 10 and Hegarty was moved to fullback. Rebels then scored 5 tries to nil in the remaining 35 minutes of the game. Two of those tries were by Hegarty playing at fullback and full credit to him - it was a pressure situation, and rebs only won by 1 point. Hegarty may well be the best option now for rebs at flyhalf, but he still has plenty to learn.
Spanners
Guest
I thought the coaches decision to make changes en masse to a winning team seemed stupid at the time and smacked of disrespect to the opposition. Building momentum is critical to a campaign and the Rebels will now have to start from square one. Geez, if it aint broke, don't try and fix it. There must be some alarm bells ringing in the Force camp as well. Far from turning a corner with 32 first half points, their 2nd half was beyond terrible and just looked like more of the same rubbish they have consistently been dishing up over the past forever. I'd reckon the Highlanders will pants them in Dunedin next week, I'm pretty sure Jamie Joseph won't be fielding a B team, after all, isn't that what the pre-season matches are for?