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Chiefs hold off Melbourne Rebels to pick up Super Rugby Trans-Tasman victory in Sydney
Two tries by Isi Naisarani wasn’t enough to boost Melbourne to their first win of the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition, falling short against the Chiefs in Sydney on Sunday afternoon.
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Melbourne were unable to repeat the last round feats of Queensland over the Chiefs, with a 36-26 scoreline at Leichhardt Oval, where the match was relocated from Hamilton with the Rebels unable to travel to New Zealand.
Hulking No.8 Naisarani scored two first-half tries in his best performance of the year, and his timing couldn’t have been better with Wallabies coach Dave Rennie watching from the stands.
Melbourne started poorly and trailed 19-0 after 25 minutes with All Blacks centre Anton Lienert-Brown scoring a double.
It looked like it could turn into a horror show for the Rebels but the Australians rallied to lock up the match at 19-19 by halftime.
Naisarani’s first try came when he collected the spoils from a tighthead scrum pushover try.
Young Melbourne five-eighth Carter Gordon then showed some individual brilliance to kick ahead, regather and then off-load a no-look pass for centre Stacey Ili.
Naisarani barrelled over in the 39th minute after a quick tap for the Rebels to level.
Their momentum stalled early in the second half with the Chiefs running in two tries in nine minutes, with replacement Tiatia crossing for his double and then fullback Trask adding his second for the afternoon.
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Rebels fullback George Worth looked to have scored in the 70th minute to close the gap to five points, however the TMO ruled that winger Andrew Kellaway obstructed the defence in the lead-up.
That ended up being Melbourne’s final hurrah, with the team left to rue a number of missed opportunities in their hunt for an elusive win.
Chiefs 36 (Tries to Kaleb Trask (2), Anton Lienert-Brown (2) and Chase Tiatia (2); 3 conversions to Bryn Gatland)
Rebels 26 (Tries to Isi Naisarani (2), Stacey Ili and Andrew Kellaway; 3 conversions to Matt To’omua)
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Comments on RugbyPass
The Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
2 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
2 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
10 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
10 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
10 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
3 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
3 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
3 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
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