MEDIA RELEASE

Historic Rebels go three from three  

 
The Melbourne Rebels have secured a club record third consecutive victory with a 33-10 victory over the Brumbies at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Friday.

A double from Reece Hodge, along with tries from Amanaki Mafi, Jack Maddocks and Michael Ruru, helped the Rebels maintain their unbeaten start to the 2018 Vodafone Super Rugby campaign.

The Brumbies were in a gallop straight out of the gates to dominated early territory and possession.

Under enormous pressure and starved of the ball, Tom English’s leadership was tested early in his first game as captain as the Rebels conceded five penalties in the opening nine minutes which led to the sin-binning of hooker Jordan Uelese.

With their tails up, the visitors immediately struck less than a minute later when a long ball from flyhalf Christian Lealiifano found Chance Peni on the wing, who was able to beat the defender to open the scoring.

English settled the troops as the Rebels found their grit and determination in defence in a gutsy nine minutes to nullify the reigning Australian Conference champions.

The Rebels hit the lead in the 28th minute with a converted try when Mafi crashed through the Brumbies defensive line to plant the ball at the base of the Yakult goal post pad after a barnstorming run from the scrum. Hodge made no mistake with the conversion from in front.

Mafi put in another dominant shift at The Stockade to finish the game with 91 metres from 17 carriers, five tackle busts, a line break and a try assist to complement his second try in two games.

The hosts doubled their advantage four minutes after when a slick cut out pass from Will Genia put Hodge over for his first try of the game and sent the Rebels into the half-time break with a 14-5 lead.

The Brumbies cut their deficit to four points after the restart when quick hands and an inside ball put Henry Speight through the defence to score for the visitors and make it a 14-10 game in the 55th minute.

After a physical and tense opening hour, the Rebels capitalised on the man advantage after a yellow card to Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin in the 62nd minute with three tries in six minutes to put the result beyond doubt.

Genia and Hodge combined again for the inside centre’s second try of the game in the 65th minute before Maddocks bagged his fourth try in two games after a neat flick out the back from Mafi put the winger down the right side to make it 28-10.

The bench sealed the club’s third straight bonus point victory when Richard Hardwick, in his Rebels debut, dashed 35 metres through the midfield before he found Ruru in support for his first career Super Rugby try in the 71st minute.

Melbourne Rebels 33 (Hodge 2, Mafi, Maddocks, Ruru tries; Hodge 4 cons) defeated Brumbies 10 (Peni, Speight)