Crusaders Prove Too Strong For The Rebel Machine.

Crusaders Prove Too Strong For The Rebel Machine.

By Mark Humphrey

The Melbourne Rabo Direct Rebels were looking to bounce back after the thrashing they received at the hands of the Western Force last week while the Crusaders were looking to back up their first win of the season last week against the Stormers.Teams were at it from the whistle and never relented for the night.

Rebels head coach Tony McGahan mentioned in his first press conference after the sides win against the Cheetahs that he was looking to string some wins together like the good sides do. The Rebels after a promising start to the season are back at the starting line and need to find the form they displayed against the Cheetahs. The Crusaders on the other hand had a couple of tough matches to kick off the season and were happy to get a win on the board last week against the Stormers.

On a perfect autumn evening in Melbourne the stage was set for an epic battle between two teams desperate to stamp their mark on the 2014 season.

The Crusaders were on the park for a long time warming up and looked to start the game attacking. With only 3 minutes gone in the game Crusaders captain Kieran Read was penalised for diving on the ball. Rebels captain Scott Higginbotham elected to kick giving Woodward to first opportunity to score. Woodward 45 out got the kick away to give first blood to the Rabo Direct Rebels. Rebels Jason Woodward got the 1st points of the match

After being awarded a penalty the Crusaders had the feed 25 out. A penalty against the Rebels for entering from the side gave Taylor an opportunity to kick for goal. Taylor made no mistake to give the Crusaders their first points. 3-3 with 8 minutes gone in the first half.

Good bullocking work by the Rebels and in particular Fuglistaller had the ball 25 out from the Rebels goal. A penalty against the Crusaders for diving over the ball gave Woodward another opportunity to kick for goal. Woodward made it putting the Rabo Direct Rebels up 6-3 with 10 minutes gone in the first half.

A penalty to the Crusaders for entering from the side gave Taylor a shot 25 out and in front. Taylor got the shot to once again tie up the contest 6-6 with 13 gone in the first half.

Minutes later the Rebels were awarded a penalty with Higginbotham electing to kick. Woodward missed the kick with 15 gone in the game.

Rebel’s Sean McMahon was once again lively for the home team continuing on from his excellent start to the season. The Crusaders looked to pick up the tempo and forged forward towards their 22. A penalty by the Rebels gave the Crusaders the feed. Another penalty by the Rebels this time for boring in gave Taylor a chance 22 out and to the right. Taylor got the shot away to give the Crusaders a 9-6 lead with 22 minutes gone in the game.

Mitch Inman found himself in clear territory hard on the right hand line and broke through the first line of the Crusader defence to chip kick the ball clear down the line 22 out. Unfortunately for Inman the ball skidded to the right and out of play. This was the first real opportunity the Rabo Direct Rebels had to score a try but unfortunately Inman had no support on the line.

The Crusaders started to look dangerous and were having the better of the scrums. Johnny McNicholl and Matt Todd were giving plenty of run for the visitors keeping the Rebels defence under plenty of pressure. The Crusaders had worked the ball to within 15 of their line when Rebels captain Scott Higginbotham gave away a penalty for entering from the side. Read elected to take the kick giving Taylor a shot from 15 out. Taylor converted the kick to extend the Crusaders lead 12-6 with 28 gone in the first half.

Mc Mahon still working hard forced a Crusader turnover. The Crusaders kicking to clear the ball had the ball smothered by Scott Fuglistaller who then chased the ball and his opponent into the try zone.  Rebels had the feed metres out from their try line hoping to go over. Strong bullocking work by the Crusaders cleared the ball temporarily. Hugh Pyle under enormous pressure knocked on the ball giving possession to the Crusaders in their back half.

Laurie Weeks took a heavy knock halting play momentarily and was replaced by Paul Alo-Emile. The Rebels were awarded a penalty with Higginbotham electing to kick. Woodward 30 out got the shot right on the siren to reduce the gap at half time to just 3. The Crusaders went into the break leading 12-9.

The Crusaders started off the second half with a quick penalty kick conversion to stretch out the lead to 6. A fumbling error by the Rebels Luke Jones gave the Crusaders the feed. The Crusaders were given a penalty for the Rebels collapsing the scrum. The Crusaders had started the second half in complete control of the scrums following on from their first half domination. Rebel’s scrumhalf Luke Burgess had looked to open up the right side and passed off to Woodward who made good ground before getting crunched big time. Woodward suffered from the tackle and was replaced on the ground by Angus Roberts. Once again McMahon and Burgess were combining well for the home team giving plenty of drive through the middle.  A Rebels penalty for off-side gave the Rebels Bryce Hegarty an opportunity to reduce the gap. Hegarty 22 out and directly in front got the kick away to have the Rebels down by 3 with 51 minutes gone in the game. With the Crusaders leading 15-12 something had to give. Both teams had converted penalty kicks only with neither team having any real opportunity to score a try.The Crusaders dominated the scrum all match

The Rebels had a mini burst driving forward with attacking rugby. It wasn’t that often in the match that the Rebels had found open space and out muscled their opponents. The Crusaders hung on to hold back the Rebels and win possession of the ball. The Rebels were now under pressure as the crusaders had the overlap.  The Crusaders threw the ball right with Captain Kieran Read giving off the ball to Hooker Ben Funnell for a try in the right hand corner. Kicker Tom Taylor had a 100% record tonight and kicked truly from the right hand line to give the Crusaders a 22-12 lead with 57 minutes gone in the match.

The Crusaders were not done with yet and were relentless with their pressure on the Rebel ball carriers and forced a turnover but in the process gave up a penalty. An errant pass to the Rebels Tamati Ellison was picked off by the Crusader defence with the whole field open ahead. Fortunately for the Rebels the ball was called back for a Rebel ball. With 63 gone in the match the Crusaders knocked on giving the ball to the Rebels. The Crusaders instantly work over the Rebel forwards to gain possession of the ball and move it to their own 22 line.

With play going back and forth the Crusaders were given a penalty for the Rebels diving over the ball. Taylor 25 out and directly in front kept his 100% strike rate up and extended the Crusaders lead 25-12 with 70 minutes gone in the match.

The Rebels won the ball on a line out and took possession of the scrum. Good side stepping by Bryce Hegarty opened up the left side of the park for the Rebels. A penalty to the Rebels had them pushing forward with openside flanker Scott Fuglistaller putting the ball over the try line for a Rebels try.

Hegarty shooting left of the posts slotted the ball through the uprights to reduce the Crusaders lead to 25-19 with just a minute to play. The Rebels had the last play but gave the ball up with the Crusaders playing the ball dead for a 25-19 win against a Rebels outfit that never gave up. The difference at the end of the night was the scrum dominance by the Crusaders and just their overall strength which at times seemed over whelming for the Rebels.

No doubt the Rebels would be disappointed with the loss but they were certainly competitive for the entire night. No lapses in the game which is a big turnaround from last year. The Crusaders although the better team had to work all night for their win.

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