Rebels deny Waratahs comeback

Bulls win bruising South African battle

SYDNEY, April 3, (AFP): The Melbourne Rebels clung on to down the NSW Waratahs 21-17 and claim their first Super Rugby victory over the Waratahs in Sydney on Sunday.

The Rebels jumped to a 21-3 half-time lead and, despite not scoring in the second half, hung on to register only their second win over the Waratahs in a gutsy performance.

The Waratahs were their own worst enemies with first-season coach Daryl Gibson calling their first half “rubbish” before they put their game together in the second period to almost pull off a comefrom-behind victory.

Once again the Waratahs conceded a big lead at home like they did against the Otago Highlanders two weeks ago and were unable to pull back the deficit in the second half.

The Rebels showed their continuing improvement, winning a match they would have lost in previous seasons with their experienced players stepping up in the pressure moments of the second half.

Out-of-sorts Waratahs never got into any rhythm in the opening half, constantly dropping the ball and making wayward passes to give the Rebels the initiative.

Fly-half Jack Debreczeni scored out wide after multi phases in the 21st minute and another try by prop Toby Smith put Melbourne ahead 15-3 after 25 minutes.

The Waratahs lost Test fullback Israel Folau for the rest of the half in the sin bin after he was yellow carded for playing the ball off the ground with the Rebels on the attack.

Debreczeni added two more penalties to send the Rebels into halftime with a commanding lead and with the Waratahs having it all to do.

Converted tries by Jack Dempsey and Matt Carraro gave Waratahs fans hope of victory when the home side trailed by four points with 10 minutes remaining, but the Rebels marshalled their forces to repel the comeback.

In Pretoria, Northern Bulls maintained their dominance over Central Cheetahs with a 23-18 Super Rugby victory in a typically bruising South African derby Saturday.

It was the 14th victory for the Pretoria team in the past 16 meetings with the Bloemfontein side, but this round 6 game was not among the more memorable.

Errors were plentiful at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, many of them handling, and decision-making was poor at times.

To the credit of two teams unlikely to be involved in the knockout stages of the tournament, they did attempt to play attractive, ball-in-hand rugby.

However, a lack of skills let both three-time former champions Bulls and Cheetahs down in perfect South African autumn conditions. Cheetahs had chances to achieve a rare win over the Bulls with fly-half Niel Marais missing a couple of kickable second-half penalties.

Bulls fly-half Tian Schoeman also fluffed several shots at goal, including two conversions and a late penalty which, had it been successful, would have deprived Cheetahs of a bonus point.

Racing Metro 92 French flanker Yannick Nyanga (left), collapses during the French Top 14 rugby union match between Bordeaux-Begles and Racing Metro on April 2, at the Matmut Atlantique Stadium in Bordeaux, southwestern France. (AFP)