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.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS