When the Brumbies thrashed the Rebels I posted that it was a sad night for Oz rugby. Brumbies fans took it the wrong way, but I was deploring the abject performance of our newest team and the Oz Conference which it was a part of.
But tonight was a great night for Oz rugby because our newest team played a game for the ages, well at least, for the season.
I had a sneaky feeling before the game that the Saders could stumble in this one but at half time I thought it was the same old story and they would pull another game out of their arses. Apart from when the Rebs got a lineout near their opponents goal line they shouldn't have, the Crusaders were getting the dreaded rub of the green in the first half.
The Rebels had no control of that, but they did have control of their discipline. Some of the penalties against them were dodgy but others were in the dumb and dumber category.
The second half was happy days and Peyper kept throwing his arm up, bent or straight for the the home team. Maybe he was squaring up, but who cares? In the end it was the best day for the Rebels since Burnside sent his divisions up the hill against Lee at Fredericksburg in 1862.
I know there are still a lot of foreigners in the squad but it was great to see so few of them in the 22 yet getting such a result. All the backs and all but 3 of the forwards were eligible for Oz.
The two young locks were active again and didn't seem to miss Jones, their partner in crime. Once they get the knack of running into tacklers from a lower position and helping their props more in the scrum they will be the real deal. I thought that 6. Davidson, subbing for Jones, had his best game of pro rugby and that 7. Lipman was one of the best on the park apart from Beale and Gerrard.
The best thing about the win by the lads was that not only did they play better as a team than their famous opponents, but also, most of the Rebels played better man for man.
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