The Melbourne Rebels travel to Sydney to face the NSW Waratahs in Round 11 of Super Rugby. Join us here on The Roar from 7.55pm (AEST) for live scores and updates.
The Rebels are looking for three wins in a row, and a chance for the experience to have beaten all Australian franchises.
But the Rebels’ inaugural Captain and board member, Stirling Mortlock, believes today will be the Waratahs’ day. Last week, most tipsters wrote off the Rebels chances versus the Brumbies, but were surprised by the Rebels quality performance, albeit with a depleted Brumbies team.
Today, the Waratahs will not be depleted. The exception is Wycliff Palu, who was moved to the bench. That means Lopeti Tomani will face a taller Mitch Chapman, whilst man mountain Will Skelton will biff it out against giant Cadeyrn Neville.
With this tall timber move, it looks like the Waratahs want to improve their lineout chances especially with the return of Tatafu Polota-Nau to the No. 2 Jersey. They then want to bring in Palu to finish off the match. Both teams are ranked close to bottom of the lineout ladder.
The Waratahs will probably feel a little aggrieved with how the scrums were judged in their Round 2 encounter. The Rebels scrum has climbed to third, achieved by their stellar scrum performance last week against the Brumbies. This was also helped by the Waratahs and the Force, whose scrum dropped the Stormers to fourth place.
The other big battle will be in the loose. Both teams have developed superb phase play capabilities, gaining both metres and gainline advantages.
Wallabies (and Waratahs coach) Michael Cheika hopes both sides will come away without injuries. This includes Wallaby team mates Michael Hooper and Sean McMahon. They are the top Australian tacklers this year and will most likely continue to put their bodies on line, and increase these statistics for their respective team.
As if the Rebels were not already stacked with enough Queenslanders, Dominic Shipperley has been brought in to start on the wing. He will face off with the hard running, tough tackling, rough rucking Rob Horne. Although ‘Big T’ Taqele Naiyaravoro does have visa problems, he will not be playing today.
The bookies have the Waratahs at a huge advantage. This is aided by the fact that the Rebels have not won in Sydney, ever. But the Rebels faced similar odds last week, and delivered a famous win. They may do the same today, if the Rugby Gods (and the referees) are on their side.
RobC
Roar Guru
sorry. 3rd try title should read. Horne, not AAC. Copy/Paste mistake
Mike
Guest
"So are you saying the better team always wins or always deserves to win?" No he didn't say that. Read his post again, slowly. That idea is just not there. He was talking about how the rebels played that night. Too many mistakes and failings of their own to match the Tahs' defects. BTW I agree that the decision on the 22m vs 20m was wrong and a terrible decision against the Rebs. But this is not a case of the Rebs being the clearly better team (although they are a very good team no doubt about it - so are the Tahs. Neither would have been happy with their play that night, regardless of the result).
RobC
Roar Guru
Thanks RT. I live in a romantic country. btw a correction. The Rebs wasn't a phase 1 try. It was phase 2. Inman was collected by some Tahs defenders. In any case, his recycle was fast and set up the try in the right side a few seconds after. Most of the Tahs defenders still untangling themselves from the scrum
Fin
Guest
I agree on the maul. It's impossible to defend if the attacking team is allowed to use the maul the way the Brumbies did on Friday night.
RobC
Roar Guru
Cheers EG. Enjoy rest lf your weekend mate Btw you mentioned there were two Hoff fubars. One was the 22m clearance. What was the other?
Rugby Tragic
Guest
WOW, what a summary ... all good stuff, with a bit of romance (...valley too wide for the Rebs to bridge) thrown in... great stuff Rob, you are a talent ...
RobC
Roar Guru
72' FIRST / ONLY REBS TRY (Hegarty) - CONVERTED: For good 10' or so, Reid stood out for delivering more pilfers. But it was the combination of power tackles, isolating stretched attackers and over confident runners and passers that created the opportunities. Palu late game power didn't translate. Unfortunately, McGahan took forever to replace Leafa with Leicester hooker Sexton and a tonne of LO attack opportunities went begging. Thus ot was from a middle of the field scrum that finally set up the Rebs try. After 15' of keeping the Tahs away from their redzone, The Rebs win a comfortable scrum at halfway. JackDeb two touches, Inman power run, SeanMac assist gives Hegarty a clear run. A glorious text book scrum base try. JDs SBWeasque (or Folau-esque) offload in contact created this try. Something none of the Tahs delivered, though they tried (too) hard. With time running out, that was the last chance for the rebellion, with the Tahs having to withstand pressure from the Rebs. This after what should have been a regulation Latu throw was crooked at death. Uncle Vic should retire and make millions from a lineout training Co for Rebs, Tahs and the Blues. Maybe a few more.
RobC
Roar Guru
58' THIRD TAHS TRY (AAC) - NOT CONVERTED: VERY CONTROVERSIAL within 1' after the JackDeb penalty. His very legal clearance was called back by the Hoff for clearing a ball taken back from 22m. Which was not The Hoff clearly mistook the RL 20m line for the 22m. Rebs fans would change their chant from Rebels! Rebels! To B**L***T! B**L***T!!! But full marks to the Tahs who deliver an excellent, well thought set piece try. Superb. A subsequent lineout drive draws in almost all the Rebs forwards, followed by a centrefield raid with multiple runners drawing in almost all the backs defenders. It was spun wide by KB to Horne for a beautiful corner try. All in a few seconds, in a single phase. Boks would have been happy to deliver that. Folley, misses the corner conversion
RobC
Roar Guru
58' THIRD TAHS TRY (AAC) - NOT CONVERTED: VERY CONTROVERSIAL within 1' after the JackDeb penalty. His very legal clearance was called back by the Hoff for clearing a ball taken back from 22m. Which was not The Hoff clearly mistook the RL 20m line for the 22m. Rebs fans would change their chant from Rebels! Rebels! To B**L***T! B**L***T!!! But full marks to the Tahs who deliver an excellent, well thought set piece try. Superb. A subsequent lineout drive draws in almost all the Rebs forwards, followed by a centrefield raid with multiple runners drawing in almost all the backs defenders. It was spun wide by KB to Horne for a beautiful corner try. All in a few seconds, in a single phase. Boks would have been happy to deliver that. Folley, misses the corner conversion
RobC
Roar Guru
For the 2nd half, the Tahs struggled to attack the Rebs redzone. Partly due to the rain. Partly due to their fumbles. More than partly due to Rebs. 49' & 57' TWO MORE BEAUTIFUL REBS PENALTY KICKS (JackDeb): The Tahs and their reserves have a hard time making inroads. They also frustrate the Rebs phase play, but he reserves (Palu Big T) are inaccurate in the breakdown and tackle. JackDeb knocks THREE POINTS from 45m' next to the right rail. Leigh Halfpenny would salute that one. Another easy THREE POINTS from 40m centre. Like Michael Jordan in a kiddies basketball court
RobC
Roar Guru
39' FIRST BEAUTIFUL PENALTY KICK (JackDeb): 26' Naivalu is sent off for cynical hands in the ruck, in his redzone. Tahs scrum smashes the Rebs. But Folly kicking Foley continues. All that scrum power in front of the sticks delivered ZERO points at 34'. Rebellion starts: a TH scrum win around 30'. At 39' a critical ruck TOW Pen by Neville. JackDeb then slots a 50m penalty with more to spare, like it was a pressure free weekend wedge shot.
RobC
Roar Guru
19' SECOND TAHS TRY (AAC) In the very next restart, the Tahs deliver a beautiful set piece from a halfway LO. Great use of power runs, and power dummies by Folau and Big Willy clears four defenders and creates a clear run for AAC for a right side try. This was preceded by a clear illegal scrum bind by PAE. Costly.
RobC
Roar Guru
16' PENALTY KICK TAHS (Folly): The Waratahs continue to persecute the Rebs with the same vigour for another few minutes. A KB led raid, supported by a rampaging Tafs into the Rebs half adds three more points from a PENALTY - the only one that Foley nails. A notable event prior to this is KB's demonstrating of his sharp shooting kicks by nailing Big Willy perfectly on the back.
RobC
Roar Guru
Game flow and Scoring Plays In the first ten minutes, the Tahs rumble through the Rebs, both A and D. 9' FIRST TAHS TRY (Hoops): Hoops directs his big boys to drive and shear left, for a well executed lineout drive. Seems the Tahs are adding the maul, to their rugby league style attack plans. The man who would almost single handedly give the game to the Rebs through missed kicks, Bernard Foley, had a big hand in this try. It was his deft grubber to corner Fuglistaller that created LO drive opportunity on the Rebs 5m. Mike Browneque
RobC
Roar Guru
The Tahs bolted out of the gate, bristling with confidence and power. Within 9 minutes of domination of territory, possession and collisions. They power through the first 30' with tries, penalty wins. Melbournites would have none more of that and staged a 50' rebellion. A controvertial call by the Ref in 2H gave the Tahs the opportunity to score their 3rd try and create a valley too wide for the Rebs to brige. But the Rebs did more than enough to frustrate, then terrorise both Tahs players and their fans for a good part of the the match, especially at death. Despite the average conditions, both teams were keen to use their phase play. As it turns out. All their tries came from set piece phase 1 scores. And they were all beauties. More than enough to give Larkham ideas. Bernard Foley needs to seriously work on his place kicks to retain his Wallaby ten jersey. Rebels need to seriously stop bringing bad weather with them
RobC
Roar Guru
SET PIECE Lineouts Won 14-9 Lineouts Lost 1-4 Lineouts Won (%) 93.3%-69.2% Scrums Won 9-9 Scrums Lost 1-0 Scrums Won 90%-52.6% DISCIPLINE Penalties Conceded 7-10 Red Cards 0-0 Yellow Cards 0-1
RobC
Roar Guru
BREAKDOWN Rucks Won 79-75 Rucks Lost 5-3 Rucks Won 94%-96.2% Mauls Won 7-2
RobC
Roar Guru
KICKING Kicks in Play 12-13 Conversions 0/3-1/1 Penalty Goals 1/2-3/3 Drop Goal 0/0-0/0 (0%)
RobC
Roar Guru
ATTACK Tries 3-1 Metres 455-351 Carries 143-107 Defenders Beaten 15-17 Clean Breaks 9-8 Passes 162-134 Offloads 12-12 Turnovers Conceded 15-21 DEFENCE Tackles 105-113 Missed Tackles 17-15 Turnovers Won 4-9
Stuey
Guest
So are you saying the better team always wins or always deserves to win? I call BS on that. How many times have we seen teams win that played a lot worse than the opposition, but because of missed kicks, lucky bounces etc got the win. The Rebels fans have every right to be pissed, as that call by Hoffman gave the Tahs a HUGE advantage in position for the line out and directly lead to 5 points. Without that the Rebels would have won the game, whether they were the better team or not is totally irrelevant.