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Ex-All Black set to debut for Rebels after 'deflating' first round loss

Carter Gordon of the Rebels reacts after the Rebels loss to the Brumbies during the round one Super Rugby Pacific match between Melbourne Rebels and ACT Brumbies at AAMI Park, on February 23, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Melbourne believe the Western Force would have circled their Super Round rugby clash on Friday night as a must-win, as both teams look to rebound from disappointing opening losses.

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The Rebels were awful in a 30-3 round-one defeat to the ACT Brumbies while the Force weren’t a lot better, falling 44-14 to the Hurricanes.

The sides clash as part of the competition’s annual Super Round at AAMI Park, with all 12 teams playing over three days at the Melbourne venue.

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Of the Australian teams, the NSW Waratahs and Crusaders square off on Saturday night while the ACT Brumbies and Chiefs meet Sunday afternoon and will be followed by the Reds and Hurricanes.

Rebels attack coach Tim Sampson described their performance against the Brumbies as “deflating” after two strong pre-season showings.

“After the build-up through the pre-season into round one, first home game, it was pretty deflating,” Sampson told AAP.

“How we performed it was well below our expectations and it was across the board in every area of the game.

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“We were very average with a lot of mistakes and poor decision-making.”

Turnovers

8
Turnovers Won
7
19
Turnovers Lost
15

He said some of the match statistics made for positive reading like 42 defenders beaten and 17 entries into the opposition 22, but they frustratingly failed to convert those opportunities into tries.

Sampson said their faltering line-out, kicking game and handling errors all contributed to the ugly scoreline.

He refused to blame their off-field woes – the financially-stricken club appear headed for closure after this season – for their display but said club psychologist Andrew Waterson would be working closely with the players this week.

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Formerly head coach of the Force, Sampson said the Perth club would not have been happy with their own performance and must be fancying their chances against the Rebels, whom they finished above on the 2023 ladder.

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“Coming on their home pitch where they pride themselves on winning, they were quite successful there last year winning five of the six games at home,” he said.

“They will be looking to rebound as well as they’re in a very similar situation to us and I’m sure they’ve circled this game, putting it in their calendar a while ago.”

The Rebels aren’t expected to make many line-up changes apart from the inclusion of new signing, one-Test All Black Matt Proctor in the centres.

The Force will be without prop Marley Pearce, who was on Tuesday suspended for four weeks for a high tackle during the Hurricanes match.

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2 Comments
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MattJH 416 days ago

So having all the games for a round in Melbourne every year didn’t do much for Melbourne rugby.
Move it to Eden Park

P
Pecos 416 days ago

Deja vu.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
Late Makazole Mapimpi try earns the Sharks win away to Edinburgh

Jake White described this as the strongest Sharks lineup ever. There is no doubt that it is at least an impressive roster. They did win, which is obviously an achievement against a good Edinburgh side. However …


For much of the first half Edinburgh seemed easily able to create 2 on 1 opportunities on both wings, with the defensive wingers biting in on the inside runner and cover defence being AWOL. Conversely the Sharks showed little ability to get behind the Edinburgh defensive line, with the sole exception of a nicely-exploited Am mismatch against a second row (which led to the Fassi try).


In general the Sharks, with their full complement of Bok firepower, do not look that dangerous in attack, and while tackling was good on the whole and goal line defence was impressive at times, they were exhibiting surprising breakdowns in open play defensive structures.


Also, the Sharks continue to be inaccurate, with material impact on the scoreboard. Missing two very kickable penalties is not the way to be the best. It looked to me like the Sharks contestable kicks were not well enough executed, and were too hard to recover.


Not sure what the running attack was trying to do, but my guess is that they were trying to pull off a Harlequins-style bash-and-offload game off of 12 (Esterhuizen). That’s not a terrible idea with the personnel available, but it would require creativity and a precision on second phase that was not in evidence.


Lastly, you have to have better discipline. It’s great that the team can cope with a 13 vs 14 period (of almost 10 minutes), but smart teams a avoid cards.


Having said that it was great to see the win. I thought that Edinburgh were cynical and niggly. Always hanging around on the wrong side of the breakdown, lots of intentional obstruction, illegal dummying at the base of the ruck, etc. They played a dirty game and the ref tolerated it. Always good to see that not succeed.


Overall the “best Sharks lineup ever” scraped the win, but under-performed their Bok-laden potential. Again.

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