The Melbourne Rebels yesterday ended a frustrating try drought as they held off the Western Force 10-7 to notch their opening victory of the Super Rugby AU season.
After heartbreaking defeats to the Queensland Reds and the Brumbies, the Rebels won an arm wrestle to continue the Force’s woes at HBF Stadium in Perth, where they have lost six straight games.
The Rebels scored one try in each half and resisted the Force’s late comeback.
“Huge for us to get this win. Sums up the character of the team,” Rebels captain Matt Toomua said. “A lot of heart and resilience to grind out that win.”
The sparse crowd in Perth was pumped up with the teams sharing an acrimonious history. The Force infamously lost out to the Rebels when Rugby Australia culled them in 2017, with several high-profile players and coach Dave Wessels defecting to the Melbourne-based franchise.
It was a bitter defeat for the home side, with the Rebels continuing their mastery of an absorbing rivalry, where all bar one of the past 16 contests being decided by single digits.
The Force had come into the contest confident after a win over the Waratahs, which snapped a run of nine straight defeats since returning to the competition.
“I still think we can take a lot out of this game and it could have gone either way in the end,” Force stand-in skipper Brynard Stander said.
Even though they had scored 45 points across two games, the Rebels had remarkably not scored a try, with Wessels preferring his team kick for territory and pressure opponents into conceding penalties.
An aggressive Rebels came out firing, but the Force impressively resisted the onslaught and then started to build momentum by attacking on the outside.
The Rebels’ try hoodoo continued when James Hanson knocked the ball on trying to score, but their jinx finally ended when Lachlan Anderson finished in the corner — ending 197 minutes of frustration.
The second half continued to be a grind until Marika Koroibete set up Joe Powell in the corner in the 62nd minute to stretch the Rebels’ lead, but the Force finally worried the scorers when substitute Jack McGregor scored a try and Ian Prior converted.
Momentum was firmly with the home side with Ross Haylett-Petty sent off for a high tackle in the buildup to the try.
The tension was fueled when the lights in one part of the ground went off in the 74th minute, but the game continued after a 10-minute stoppage and the Rebels grimly held on.
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