Ken oath, what a game.
Positives:
- Rebels looked bloody amazing in that first half. Definitely shaken off the tag of 'pretenders' by completely dominating SA's best team for a half at altitude with minimal preparation.
- Billy Meakes and Rangi are both playing a level above what I thought they could. Rangi is a cannonball on legs and Meakes is loving having a decent flyhalf inside him. I'm excited to see what they can do.
- General lineout work is great. Coleman had a brilliant maul disruption.
- Having another reliable clearance kicker in Hodge on the field really helped. His starting return was decent. In saying that, I thought Koroibete was one of the few Rebels who put in a decent shift in the 2nd half.
- Naisarani is looking like that 8 Aus rugby has so desperately needed.
- Rebels' set play moves and counterattack were great. Looked threatening everytime. 5 great team tries were scored with another two or three that should've been scored too. Rebels look dangerous.
Negatives:
- Penalties, penalties, penalties. Coach killer.
- What was that by QC (Quade Cooper), not grounding the ball in the try area, foolish play.
- Our scrum, can't win games with a scrum on skates.
- Saffa commentators. Almost make the game unwatchable. These guys were slightly more bearable than the ones in the Jaguares game. Is it because of the time difference that they only commentate one team? At least here NZ and Aus commentators try and educate/commentate about the away team from across the ditch.
- That dangerous tackle by Genia on Marx, piiishhh, Marx should be ashamed.
- Followed late in the game with I think Ainsley being pinged for not releasing the player and the Lions player just driving straight at his neck. Ref saw the replay but obviously thought it didn't merit anything. Looked definitely dangerous.
- What the flying fuck is with that lopsided penalty count. Like sure, Rebels were atrocious, sure they might be the worst in the competition. That still doesn't explain the Lions having a near perfect game with ONE FLAMING PENALTY. Has that been done before?
Just looking at the scoreline, I think Rebs fans would be happy to take a bonus point away from a really tough fixture in SA.
As some posters said before, they really needed to get in front and not blow it by HT because they would be exhausted in the 2nd half. I noticed already by 20 minutes the Rebs were blowing hard. I'm not too upset with this, Rebels looked the much better team and discipline is something you can fix going forward.