Thank you to our friends at the Rebels Media Unit for providing images and words.
The RaboDirect Rebels blitzed the Blues late in the second half at AAMI Park to come away with a dogged 34-23 victory over the three-time former FxPro Super Rugby champions.
Having battled to keep themselves in the game as the visitors dominated possession and territory for much of the match, the Rebels lifted their game when it mattered and scored two late tries to guarantee their second win of the season.
Captain Gareth Delve said his team’s victory was testament to their strength as a group.
“The heads didn’t drop when it looked like the Blues were building some momentum, and that’s the bedrock of us being successful,” said Delve.
“Throughout this team we’re building leaders, we’re building that team spirit that will take us places.
“We speak a lot about trusting each other and going that extra yard for each other, and now we’re seeing it happen out on the pitch.”
A penalty kick from James O’Connor gave the Rebels a nerve-settling lead after just two minutes, but young Blues five-eighth Gareth Anscombe redressed the balance shortly after with a long-range shot of his own.
It became clear very quickly that the Blues were intent upon attacking from everywhere, but having worked their way into the Melbourne danger zone the Rebels refused to allow the Aucklanders over their line.
Wallabies full-back Kurtley Beale then gave his teammates the perfect reward for their sterling defensive efforts – flying in to shut down the overlap, Beale intercepted Brad Mika’s pass before sprinting the length of the field to score.
O’Connor hit the right upright with both his conversion attempt and his next shot at goal, but he made no mistake from right in front of the posts after a Blues’ scrum infringement - his kick stretched the Rebels’ lead to 11-3 just before quarter time.
Anscombe narrowed the gap with two further penalties, but while his side looked menacing in attack out wide ultimately their execution let them down – with seven handling errors in the first half, the visitors were unable to convert their overwhelming 80 per cent possession into a comparable lead on the scoreboard.
A talking-to from coach Pat Lam in the dressing rooms had the desired effect however, as the Blues took the lead almost immediately after the restart. Rene Ranger showed great strength in the tackle to stay in the field of play and offload to Rudi Wulf, who ran around behind the posts to ensure his side came away with seven points.
The Rebels had been offered very little chance to show their skills in attack, kicking more wisely and accurately to play the game in the Blues’ half of the field whenever they could, and crucially ensuring they came away with points each time. Two promising Melbourne attacks were shut down illegally by the Aucklanders, allowing O’Connor to put his side back in front 17-16 as the match entered the final quarter.
Melbourne’s game plan paid dividends when the Blues fumbled the ball once again as they tried to attack from deep. From a quick Rebels counter-strike, replacement hooker Ged Robinson burst through a gap at the breakdown before offloading to O’Connor, who dived over untouched and converted his own try.
With the infamous roar of the Rebels crowd pushing their team up another gear, the Blues were only able to prevent another try through desperate goal-line defence. Melbourne had to settle for an O’Connor penalty and what seemed like a defendable 27-16 lead.
The Blues had other ideas however, and soon pushed their way over from the back of a scrum on the Rebels’ try line to get themselves back within a converted try of victory.
But the Rebels were determined that this was going to be their night, and a huge hit from vice-captain Hugh Pyle in the Blues’ 22 knocked the ball out of the defender’s hand to give his side priceless possession and field position with only a minute to play.
Even with victory now almost assured, the Rebels attacked the Blues’ line as though their season depended on it, and fittingly captain Delve burrowed over as the siren sounded for undoubtedly the biggest roar heard at AAMI Park so this season.
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