The Rebels are looking to salvage the positives from one of their best performances of the Super Rugby season despite it being a gut-wrenching loss to the Brumbies.
Rebels coach Tony McGahan rated it as their best attacking performance of the year, while their defence at AAMI Park was first-rate.
But Melbourne still fell short by the score of 30-22, which could prove crucial to the fading finals hopes.
Melbourne fullback Mike Harris said his teammates were “gutted” after losing a match that they had acknowledged was the biggest in the club’s six-year history.
Playing his first match since a round one quad injury, Harris felt the loss was particularly painful given what was at stake.
“The guys were gutted because the boys put it all on the line,” Harris said.
“I thought our defence was pretty superb for most of the game and you could see the level of commitment and that’s what we pride ourselves on.
“We played well but we didn’t get the result we wanted.
In the run to the playoffs the Rebels face two of the New Zealand contenders in the Chiefs and Crusaders away from home, as well as taking on the Western Force, Stormers and Reds.
Harris said there was still self-belief they could match it with the front-runners.
“We’re not dropping our bundle,” he said.
“We don’t have the easiest run in but if we keep that commitment and style of play we will knock a few teams off.
“You’ve got to get back on the horse and we’ll do that next week against the Chiefs.”
Harris is a noted sharp-shooter however inconsistent five-eighth Jack Debreczeni continued the Rebels goal-kicking against the Brumbies, missing three kicks.
Former Wallaby Harris said he hadn’t been able to do enough kicking practice with his quad injury but could resume the duties in their next game or two.
The Rebels are set to be without try-scoring winger Cam Crawford, who suffered a broken wrist.
Bakkies
Guest
Brumbies also missed a lot of shots at goal and scored 5 tries
Rebs
Guest
It was a tough loss to take. Completely agree re McMahon - should be our long term captain. I thought it was an interesting decision to start Colby ahead of Jordy Reid who has been playing so well, however, Colby was excellent - couple of deft little touches.
As a die hard Rebels fan it is frustrating to see the little errors creep in and wreck a rugby game. Our defence was much improved but the usual defensive lapses undid any trench work created. One thing I noticed was the Brumbies cherishing possession, at one stage racking up 24 phases! We do not seem to back ourselves and push on through. One example: I simply do not understand a flying 100kg winger who gets little to no ball most games, finds himself in space and wanting to be involved physically to then just aimlessly kick the ball away and hand the possession back to the Brumbies?? why?? Hold on the ball and value it. You simply cannot score without the ball in hand. I want to have faith next week against the Chiefs, but if we continue to hand the ball over cheaply and gift them easy possession through stupid kicks rather than keep the ball in hand, they will destroy us. I was once a big advocator of Nic Stirzaker, however he is not the man for the captaincy. Give it to McMahon and let Stirazker earn his spot in the team. Meehan, in my opinion has been much more level headed and more deserving of the starting 9. Hell, even give the captaincy to Luke Jones or Toby Smith, guys that are having a crack. Speaking of which, Reece Hodge must be in contention for a Wallabies jersey, if not, then at least exposed to the Wallabies environment. The kid is big, talent, paced and versatile. Keep him at inside centre to take the pressure off Debreczeni. The Brumbies played well but could have easily lost this game. Congrats to them.