Rugby Union: Rebels ravaged by the Reds in Super Rugby

Melbourne Rebels thrashed in Brisbane against the Reds. Report taking in full from the Rebels website www.melbournerebels.com.au


Reds 53 Rebels 3

The Reds ran out comprehensive bonus-point winners at home to the Melbourne Rebels on Friday night, triumphing 53-3 at Suncorp Stadium.

The Reds, coming off a bye-week, looked threatening from the off and had the game well within their grasp inside 20 minutes. The Rebels, disappointing at the set-piece, looked like a side missing the seven injured squad members unavailable for selection. Unable to consistently secure their own ball, the Rebels restructured backline also failed to spark, despite looking to run as frequently as possible.

The game began scrappily, with both sides making early mistakes. Danny Cipriani made the Reds pay for theirs after five minutes, opening the scoring with a 40-metre penalty.

The Reds hit back immediately with Anthony Faingaa crossing in the left corner after great improvisation from Quade Cooper. The Wallaby five-eighth claimed his own steepling Garryowen, switched play to the left with a glorious missed pass and after good support play Faingaa stretched over. Cooper’s conversion attempt hit the post.

During the early exchanges the Rebels made a concerted effort to run the ball as often as possible from defence. Unfortunately, they were barricaded in their own territory on more than one occasion by a red wall. Lachlan Mitchell was caught on one such run, conceded a penalty and Cooper extended the lead to 8-3.

After surviving what seemed a certain Rod Davies counter-attacking try, Adam Wallace-Harrison did punish the Rebels after 20 minutes, forcing his way over after the Reds elected to kick for the corner rather than accept a penalty attempt. Cooper’s conversion gave him two from three in the opening quarter and cemented the Reds’ early ascendancy.

This sparked the Rebels into life and for a brief period the game was up for grabs but a series of mistakes close to the Reds line denied them the much-needed score. Chief amongst these errors was Greg Somerville failing to hold on to a Cipriani feed with the line at his mercy. The scoreboard had almost ticked from three to eight but the experienced All-Black could not finish off the move.

This proved to be a defining moment in the half as Cooper released the mounting pressure with a 45-metre penalty. This was compounded by Scott Higginbotham crossing, supporting some excellent work from Leroy Houston who wrestled his way close to the Rebels line after taking the ball from the back of a five-metre scrum. Cooper’s conversion made the half-time score 25-3.

The likely bonus-point try arrived ten minutes into the second-half. A stolen Rebels lineout was picked off by Will Genia and from the resulting breakdown Ben Daley muscled his way over the line.

A bad night for the Rebels got much worse shortly after the hour mark as Michael Harris nabbed an opportunistic brace. A series of missed tackles gifted the substitute the Reds’ fifth try before he was first to a kick through after Nick Phipps lost the ball in contact to notch the sixth.

As both sides utilised their interchange benches the game began to fracture. There was still time however for Luke Morahan to score the final try of the night and Harris to kick the extras to extend the Reds’ lead to their record ever margin.

The Reds will be pleased with their promising start to 2011, racking up three wins in their first four fixtures, all against Australian opponents. The Rebels, with one win from their first five, will have to quickly regroup ahead of a crucial home fixture against the Hurricanes at AAMI Park next Friday.

Melbourne Rebels

1. Nic Henderson, 2. Ged Robinson, 3. Greg Somerville, 4. Alister Campbell, 5. Adam Byrnes, 6. Jarrod Saffy, 7. Tom Chamberlain, 8. Gareth Delve (vc), 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Danny Cipriani, 11. Cooper Vuna, 12. Stirling Mortlock (c), 13. Lachlan Mitchell, 14. Afusipa Taumoepeau, 15. Julian Huxley

Reserves: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Laurie Weeks, 18. Hugh Pyle, 19. Tim Davidson, 20. Richard Kingi, 21. Peter Betham, 22. Luke Rooney

Head Coach: Rod Macqueen

Reds

1. Ben Daley, 2. Saia Faingaa, 3. James Slipper, 4. Rob Simmons, 5. Adam Wallace-Harrison, 6. Scott Higginbotham, 7. Beau Robinson, 8. Leroy Houston, 9. Will Genia, 10. Quade Cooper, 11. Digby Ioane, 12. Anthony Faingaa, 13. Ben Tapuai, 14. Rod Davies, 15. Ben Lucas

Reserves: 16. James Hanson, 17. Greg Holmes, 18. Radike Samo, 19. Ed Quirk, 20. Liam Gill, 21. Michael Harris, 22. Luke Morahan.

Head Coach: Ewen McKenzie

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane