Koroibete 3 overpowers Sunwolves
Fijian-born winger Marika Koroibete scored a hat-trick as the Rebels claimed a 40-13 bonus-point win over the Sunwolves in Melbourne on Friday night.
Different venue, same result. In the corresponding fixture in March, the Rebels beat the Sunwolves 37-17 in Tokyo. In that game, right wing Jack Maddocks grabbed a hat-trick, and while he scored a brace again, it was left wing Koroibete who shredded the visitors this time. Considering the Sunwolves’ excellent form in recent weeks – resulting in consecutive wins against the Reds and Stormers– this victory will be particularly pleasing for Rebels coach Dave Wessels.
The result sees them – provisionally – take the last wildcard playoff spot from the Sharks in eighth position on the overall log and moves them to within a point of the Waratahs at the top of the Australian conference. Notwithstanding the defeat, there were some encouraging signs for the Sunwolves, who came into this clash with only five survivors from the game against the Stormers. The rest of last week’s match-day squad, as well as coach Jamie Joseph, skipped the trip to Australia to attend a national training camp.
The visitors started strongly, working their way into the Rebels’ 22 with an eight-phase attack before spreading the ball out wide, where Koroibete was caught coming in off his wing, allowing his opponent Lomano Lemeki to run into acres of space for the first try. However the Rebels– and Koroibete in particula – hit straight back when Billy Meakes punched through the Sunwolves defence and released Koroibete, who ran a support line on his outside shoulder.