Melbourne Rebels progress in Super XV – Rugby news
Melbourne Rebels have won their last two consecutive games in Super XV after losing three in a row.
Rebels had been involved in Super XV encounters consecutively for the first seven weeks of the Super XV.
Last week, during the round 09 they did enjoyed a BYE, which was very timely, as it will definitely freshen up the players. Rebels went for a BYE at considerably good position with two wins under their belt after suffering consecutive defeat in the earlier
three games.
Few of the defeats were massive as and were demoralizing however, Rebels recovered and followed up the games with some closely fought contests.
Melbourne Rebels went scoreless in their first ever Super Rugby championship match against the Waratahs who thrashed them with scorecard reading 43-0. This was followed by the Melbourne Rebels first even win, which was definitely an upset as the edge home
against the Brumbies with final scorecard reading 25-24.
Later they played against the Chiefs, Sharks and Reds. Chiefs defeated them with a big margin (38 – 10) however Rebels came back strongly in their next match against the Sharks. The match was closely contested and look liked that Rebels will win their second
match.
However, Sharks denied them the win but Rebels took lot of heart from the match as the final scorecard read 32 – 34 in favour of Sharks.
Their good performance against the Sharks was followed by their massive defeat against the Reds who made the Rebels look very ordinary. Rebels however came back strongly from the heavy defeat as they beat Hurricanes by 17 points, their highest victory margin
so far. In their last match, they defeated Western Force at Perth with victory providing them their first over away win.
Melbourne Rebels Vice-captain Gareth Delve has termed the BYE as very timely as it provided the players with time to recover and refresh themselves. Rebels will take on the Highlanders during the round 10 of the Super XV and will be with their key players
who missed out of their earlier matches due to injuries. This includes the return of James Hilgendorf (at Fly Half) Cooper Vuna (at Centre – Inside), and Hoani Macdonald (at Lock).
After the Breaks, Rebels have a tough schedule ahead as after the weekend’s game they’ll play the back to back matches with the Auckland Blues, Waratahs and the Reds. Rebels are expected to maintain their pre break form and improve their performance as this,
if they continue to sustain their performance in their upcoming matches, they would give themselves a very good chance to make to the play offs of the Super XV.
However, on the other hand it is never easy to continue the momentum coming after the break.
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