The Melbourne Rebels stunned the Canterbury Crusaders 20-10 in the opening match of the Super 15 season yesterday, notching the club’s first-ever win outside Australia.
The Rebels scored two tries to one and outmuscled a Crusaders side that struggled to shake the off-season rust, even with All Blacks legends Richie McCaw and Dan Carter in its ranks.
“I’m absolutely rapt with the boys, they went hard and credit to them,” said Rebels captain Scott Higginbotham, whose committed effort was at the heart of his side’s win.
The Crusaders are notoriously poor starters, usually clicking into gear at the sharp end of the season, but skipper Matt Todd left no doubt that the loss in front of his home crowd stung.
“We just weren’t good enough tonight, we’ll have to have a look at that game and make some improvements, that’s for sure,” he said.
The Rebels, who have been wooden spooners in two of the four seasons they have competed in, were given little chance against Super Rugby’s most successful club with seven titles.
The Australians were on the back foot after just two minutes against last year’s finalists when scrumhalf Nic Stirzaker was sin-binned for stamping on McCaw at the bottom of a ruck.
Carter, playing his last Super rugby season before a move to France after the World Cup, notched the first points of the season with a penalty.
However, the unfancied Rebels then took on the Crusaders through the middle of the park, setting up lock Lopeti Timani to surge over the line for a try.
Fullback Mike Harris, an off-season recruit from the Queensland Reds, slotted the conversion to make it 7-3.
However, Harris fumbled when he kicked the ball out on the full from the restart, leading to a Crusaders’ rolling maul that shredded the Rebels defense to give hooker Ben Funnell a try.
The hosts still went into half-time down 10-13 after conceding two penalties.
The second half began as an arm wrestle, but the momentum swung the Rebels’ way when Stirzaker pounced on a loose Carter kick and took off for a runaway try.
Harris again added the extras to make it 20-10 with 14 minutes to go.
The Crusaders laid siege to the Rebels’ tryline, but the defense held firm to seal the biggest win of the Rebels’ short history.
BRUMBIES 47, REDS 3
The ACT Brumbies scored six tries in a thumping win over Australian rivals the Queensland Reds to post a record-winning margin in their Super Rugby match in Canberra.
The Brumbies, champions in 2001 and 2004, were too well-drilled and organized for the ragged Reds, who lost their former Wallaby skipper James Horwill to a red card in the final minutes.
The Canberra-based side gave promise of things to come with an impressive performance, with former Wallabies skipper David Pocock coming through the 80 minutes unscathed after two seasons blighted by knee reconstructions.
The 44-point winning margin eclipsed the Brumbies’ 51-8 victory over the Reds in Canberra in 2004 for their ninth straight win at home.
The Brumbies, who led 21-3 at half-time, launched their season with a bonus-point win with tries to Robbie Coleman, Joe Tomane, Matt Toomua, Nic White, Tevita Kuridrani and James Dargaville.
Christian Lealiifano kicked 17 points from four conversions and three penalties.
Queensland’s only points came from a 34th-minute penalty from their new signing and former rugby league international Karmichael Hunt, who played at flyhalf for the sidelined Quade Cooper.
“It was a really great way to start the year and I am really proud of the effort out there tonight,” skipper Pocock said. “To keep that sort of Reds side try-less was the biggest thing that we can take out of the game. I thought halves Nic White and Matt Toomua controlled the game really well.”
Brumbies hooker and Wallaby skipper Stephen Moore came off the bench for the last 30 minutes as he works his way back to full fitness from a serious knee injury.
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