Author: Travis Tee

The end is nigh for the non-traditional rugby teams from Victoria and Western Australia, with both out of finals contention. This last hit-out for the season is for pride, and possibly Bieber O’Connor’s love/signature. The Rebels produced three wins from their first seven games, but since the bye predatory is a word I would only assign to Cipriani’s pick-up tactics. A disappointing second half to the season has left the Rebels with the onerous task of holding up the whole Super Rugby ladder; they’re destined to finish last after a shock draw by the Lions last weekend. Both Adam Freier…

Tonight the Rebels host the Stormers at the Stockade, which hasn’t seen any Rebels action since the visit from Reds almost a month ago. They had a week off after their return from South Africa, while the Stormers have been busy riding the Brumbies in Canberra. The big news for the home team is the man named to wear the number 16 jersey, Adam ‘The Hoff’ Freier. Despite never yet donning the 5 Star jersey, he has been the most vocal and visible Rebel in the media, and if you have ever crossed paths with him you’ll know that he…

A match was played at Moore Park this Saturday past, featuring a ragtag bunch of has-beens, wannabes and never-weres from Victoria taking on a gang of heavy-hitting Sydney locals. This was, of course, the inaugural meeting between the Rebel Army and the GAGR-Tahs — a touch-footy battle for the Kurtley Beale Memorial Trophy, which commemorates its namesake’s 2011 decision to leave the Waratahs for the Rebels. This landmark event got off to a pretty casual start. People were wandering onto the field and introducing themselves left, right and centre: some in Green and Gold Rugby shirts, some in civvies — but…

This weekend Rebels travel north to face their border rivals, the Waratahs, in a game in which both teams have a point to prove. The Waratahs, having lost both their star winger and their first game to Queensland in seven years, will be looking for blood against a Rebels outfit who want vengeance for the 43-0 drubbing the Tahs gave them in Round 1. Since then the Rebels have since racked up three wins, and looked close in a few other games. Though still missing the Hoff, they look a more-better side and quite different to that debut lineup. Back…

This week the Rebels head back over the dutch to duel the fourth-placed Blues at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. At home last week they lost a 6-try-to-2 game to the Highlanders; the Blues were at home too and defeated the Waratahs 31–17, without even scoring in the second half. The Rebels never looked in the game against the Highlanders. The worst match statistic showed that all six Clan tries were scored within 20 metres of touch on Cooper Vuna’s wing. Two late tries to the locals improved the scoreline in an otherwise one-sided affair. By contrast, the Aucklanders found their feet…

After a slow start the Clan rolled over the Rebels in a 6-try-to-2 encounter at AAMI Park in Melbourne. The Highlanders led 22–6 at half-time before blowing out the final score to 40–18 — and that flattered the defensively poor Rebels. The opening exchanges left some points on the board with both teams missing penalty shots. Colin Slade, the Highlanders’ fly-half, was off within five minutes, breaking his jaw for the second time this year (the first was in a pre-season trail against the Blues). By the 20-minute mark both teams had given away opportunities and neither looked settled. Then…

Friday night at the Stockade, surprise packet newcomers the Melbourne Rebels take on the Highlanders in a middle-of-the-table clash that may define both teams’ seasons. The visitors are coming off a close win at home over the cellar-dwelling Cheetahs. Though they have a healthy five-from-seven record so far and 25 points tabled, they’re being kept out of the six on aggregate by the Sharks. And with the Sharks beached for this round, the Clan would love to rack up a bonus-point win. So the pressure is all on them, not on the Rebels. The debutants know that with three wins…

The Rebel Alliance heads over to the Death Star to do battle with the Force on Saturday evening, still on a high after coming back from 0–17 to defeat the Hurricanes in front of their vocal home crowd last weekend. The Force are at home after a demoralising defeat to the Stormers. The Rebels are in the unfamiliar position of being higher on the ladder than their opponents, and will look to keep it that way, after showing an underwhelming Hurricanes outfit clean heels from the 20th minute onwards last week. The Force, having already shown that they (like the Rebels)…

Two teams coming off demoralising losses last time out face each other on Friday night at AAMI Park in Melbourne. Last week the Hurricanes lost to a convincing Blues side, letting in 41 points while scoring only 17. Not to be outdone, the Rebels had a brain fart that lasted 70 minutes, letting the rested Reds score 53 points to their solitary early penalty. There have been some big changes through the Rebels lineup over the last two weeks. Injuries have hit them hard, and they’ve fielded a mix of players, with perhaps a third of them not in their preferred…

The Rebels return from a defeat on their first roadtrip, to face an unbeaten Shorks line-up at AAMI Park on Friday Night. Both teams showed some moments of brilliance last week, mixed in with some simple errors. Unfortunately for this Rebel faithful, the Rebels had less brilliance, and the Shorks had fewer errors. The Rebels are sitting at the bottom of the Australian Conference, which is commonly deemed to be the weakest, even though their record is 1-and-2 — same as the Brumbies, and better than the injury-plagued Force. After losing a game they never looked settled in last week,…