SPORT Rebels in Brumbies boilover
DOUBLE CHECK
following 6 numbers THE Melbourne Rebels have recorded their first win of the Super Rugby season with a heart-stopping 19-17 home victory over the Brumbies.
The Brumbies led last night for most of the second half, but Rebels centre Reece Hodge drilled a 78th-minute penalty goal to breathe life into Melbourne’s 2017 campaign.
After a tumultuous week when their existence was thrown into question by the ARU announcing one Australian team would be culled from next year’s competition, the Rebels held on for a gutsy win despite three acts of ill-discipline handing the Brumbies the advantage at key stages.
Hodge missed a long-range penalty attempt in the opening minute but the home side took a 3-0 lead shortly after with Colby Fainga’a earning a penalty at the breakdown for Hodge to convert.
The Rebels then crossed for
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Permit Number NTL 15/43. the opening try through Sefa Naivalu’s barnstorming run.
Leading 10-0 after 15 minutes, the Rebels suffered a double blow with Fainga’a (lifting tackle) and Lopeti Timani (foul play) each shown yellow cards to hand the Brumbies a twoplayer advantage.
And it wasn’t long before Henry Speight found space out wide for his first try of the night.
Then the Brumbies took the lead with Jarrad Butler finishing off a dominant scrum with a converted try.
A Hodge 40m penalty put the Rebels back in front before halftime.
The Brumbies regained the lead straight after the break when a dominant scrum allowed Joe Powell to set up Speight’s second.
Down 17-13, Hodge’s third penalty of the night closed the gap to one point with 20 minutes remaining, and with two minutes on the clock he kicked the winning penalty.