Rebels rising from the canvas - Season Review
The influx of playing personnel from the west saw the Rebels instantly become one of the favourites in the Australian conference this season. Along with rising coach Dave Wessels, this new Force-Rebels outfit immediately looked better on paper.
Six months later the Rebels have proved they are in a better place, despite missing out on their first finals appearance and finishing 7-9. This has been a marked improvement for the side that won one game in 2017 and finished with a points differential of -333 under the previous coach Tony McGahan.
The challenges for Wessels were of a different kind this year – expectations were suddenly high given the concessions provided to the franchise. In addition to being given the right to stay in the competition over the Force, they were expected to win given the quality of their roster, which is not easy when effectively merging two team cultures. A number of the previous squad remained, who were not accustomed to winning.
Their opening round 45-19 blowout of a 14-man Reds team showed this team had potential, but after a fast start, the side fell apart in the middle stretch and over the final three games which ultimately cost them a finals spot.
Wessels deserves a lot of credit for lifting this franchise off the canvas and building a foundation to climb from. A lot of talent doesn’t automatically equal success, but he has this team trending in the right direction.
Heading into year two the franchise may have some headwinds from the salary cap concessions offered to deal with the oversupply of Force players looking for a second home. 2019 is expected to return to a hard cap, which could have some implications for the Rebels who ended up with a treasure chest of Wallabies. Rebels boss Baden Stephenson told The Australian that cap concerns were overblown as the side always has extra cap room as a result of spending less on players, and the assistance of Rugby Australia top-ups helped them accommodate their Wallabies.
The team is expected to offload Japanese international Amanaki Mafi, who will return to Japan in the lead-up to the World Cup. His post-season arrest in New Zealand will only support the decision to let him go. The expected arrival of Brumby Isi Naisarani will soften the loss of Mafi and re-unite the Fijian backrower with his ex-Force head coach.
The marquee signing of former Wallaby Matt Toomua gives the team a figurehead at 10 or 12, but the side will be without him until the last few rounds as he completes his Leicester Tigers commitments. Toomua’s signing is more beneficial for the Wallabies than the Rebels at this point.
Uncapped youngster Jack McGregor, Tayler Adams and the maligned Jack Debreczini remain unsigned for 2019, leaving a gaping roster hole at flyhalf. Makeshift flyhalf Reece Hodge is still under contract and could fill that place, but there will likely be decisions made in the coming months to retain one or more of them. It might be a position the team leaves open and looks to plug following the NRC season.
The return of Will Genia was a masterstroke. Adding one of the best playmaking halfbacks in World Rugby ignited the Rebels set-piece play and gave the side consistency and ruck speed, which they lacked previously. He will be back to finish off his two-year commitment to Rugby Australia and shapes as the key man for the Rebels.
The midfield benefited from the addition of underrated Billy Meakes, who formed a partnership with Tom English for the majority of the season. Meakes is confirmed for next season but English remains uncontracted. The Rebels have a host of young centres coming through the system in the form of Australian age grade reps Sione Tuipulotu and Hunter Paisami, as well as Semisi Tupou.
Tuipulotu, in particular, has been sitting in the wings for some time now since his debut in 2016. The first Victorian homegrown Rebels player must make the step up in 2018 and become a regular starter, which might see English let go with the wing stocks already full.
Jack Maddocks has kept Wallaby Sefa Naivalu on the bench all year, while Marika Koroibete, also off-contract after this season, has held the other flank. Jack Maddocks shapes as the future of the Rebels, and is rumoured to be in the mix to play flyhalf long-term. His preferred position of fullback will be filled by Dane Haylett-Petty for the foreseeable future, who also returns next season.
The Rebels should be able to field one of the best backlines in Australia again next year and build on the chemistry they started to find this season. Their set-piece attack has been the best in the Australian conference, with expansive and intricate plays becoming part of the team’s identity.
The pack next year will miss Mafi’s carries, along with flanker Colby Fa’ainga, English lock Parling, and young lock Timani who is off to France. The front row has been a problem for the Rebels, no better example than in the penultimate round when they were absolutely dominated by Tongan Thor Taniela Tupou and the Reds.
First choice hooker Jordan Uelese will return from an ACL injury that he suffered against the Blues, which came shortly after returning from shoulder rehabilitation. The side hasn’t decided on whether to keep his backup Anaru Rangi around but with injury clouds over Uelese, the Rebels need to find an answer.
Captain and Wallaby lock Adam Coleman will again hold down the second row and lineout. Young Australian under-20’s rep Trevor Hosea could make the step up next year and partner with Coleman, the young 2.02m 110kg lock is a special player that can add some dynamic play to the Rebels pack.
They were able to sweep conference rivals the Brumbies this year, but got swept themselves by the Waratahs, they finished 1-1 with the Reds and comfortably beat the Sunwolves. The side will need to find a way to beat the conference winning Waratahs next season.
The home loss to the Jagaures in hindsight ended up proving costly, and the side must make sure they get the results in winnable home clashes next year. They also finished their South African tour with no profit, failing to get any competition points on the trip to the Republic.
Their biggest concerns heading into the offseason are the strength of the pack, especially in the front row, and who will play flyhalf. The Rebels will need to be active in the recruitment market for a high profile signing or find a few gems during the NRC season.
The side will be much better placed to continue their rise with a year under their belt, but their schedule will provide stiffer competition. They have the four strongest Kiwi teams and miss playing the Blues, although playing the Stormers and Bulls at home provides winnable games against the South African conference.
This team was the best Rebels side yet, equalling the most wins the franchise has had in a season and finishing the highest they ever have on the ladder. They also scored by far the most points in a season by any Rebels side (440).
This team has found some fight and will look to go into deeper rounds next year.
Comments on RugbyPass
My heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
69 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
69 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
5 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to commentsThis is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
9 Go to commentsBest thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
9 Go to comments