In a game dominated by refereeing controversy and tough forward play the Rebels did just enough against the Chiefs, pipping them by a point.
The Match
This was a proper tough bastard game. Facing a Chiefs team missing their two best players in Aaron Cruden and Brodie Ratallick they knew they had a real shot. Make no mistake; the Chiefs are still an outstanding team with a champion captain-coach pair in Liam Messam and Dave Rennie. The way to beat them, as it is with most teams, is in the forwards and up the guts.
Which is exactly what the Rebels went about doing early days. Despite an initial lack of success they pounded away at the Chiefs defensive line, perhaps slightly overcommitting at the ruck but ensuring they retained possession. Five minutes in, and five metres within their own half, the Rebels won a penalty. Jack Debreczeni smashed it over from 55 metres out and the home team were up three-zip.
Continuing to impress, Rebels took it deep into Chiefs territory. Winning a penalty, they decided to go for the throat and went for the lineout in favour of the easy three. Give Pat Leafa his due, his lineout throwing has been diabolical in recent weeks, but he was money this night.
The Rebels tested the Chiefs line, forcing a number of penalties that they continued to decline in favour of lineouts. Eventually their patience paid off, a good bit of vision from scrumhalf Nick Stirzaker saw captain Scott Higginbotham flying down the blindside where the big man was athletic enough to dive across the line. Higginbotham is now Super Rugby’s leading forward try-scorer with 29. The sideline conversion was missed, Rebels up 8-3.
The game got a bit scruffy from here with the Rebels conceding a number of breakdown turnovers and giving away a couple of penalties. That allowed the Chiefs to peg back three points, and they came even closer when a try was disallowed for a maul obstruction.
The nights big moment of drama was shortly to follow. After a lengthy period of attack, the Rebels coughed the ball up. Enormous Chiefs prop Ben Tameifuna smashed the field downfield while the Rebels players were slow to react. Wonderful hands from Messam and the Chiefs backs saw them over the line in an end-to-end piece of magic. The referee went back to the TMO though and, possibly with the aid of the hometown video guy, here things got interesting.
The replay showed two things. First, James Lowe attempting to knee a Rebels player in the head on the near sideline; Second, Messam was offside when Tameifuna kicked the ball. The try was disallowed, with Lowe sent to the bin into the bargain. The resulting penalty gave the Rebels a tasty 11-3 lead after 34.
As if the previous outrage wasn’t enough, the Chiefs were about to suffer some more. Having missed a penalty, they coughed up one of their own that saw them pinned back to their own 22. Stirzaker grabbed an overthrown Rebels lineout ball, bounced off lock Luke Jones, before beating the Chiefs fullback Tom Marshall to the corner. It was quite possibly obstruction, and quite possibly accidental offside, but the Rebels were getting the rub of the green for the first time in five years and it was allowed to stand. The conversion was missed, but a 16-3 halftime lead was beyond what all but the most optimistic fans could have imagined.
The Chiefs first try came 57 minutes in. After getting nowhere smashing away at the Rebels line for five minutes a dinky little kick was slide through. A moments indecision from Sefa Naivalu and Dom Shipperly saw Naivalu accidentally batting the ball back over the tryline where Chiefs centre Charlie Ngatai flew in to dot it down. 16-10 and things were starting to get a bit nervy.
The Chiefs second try came 10 minutes later and was another one that looked on the dodgy side of the law. Number 8 Michael Leitch picked the ball up at the base of a ruck, although not behind the last feet, and dived forward to place the ball over the line. The easy conversion was missed and the Rebels clung to a one-point lead with 10 minutes left to play.
The Rebels managed to get down deep into Chiefs territory. Forcing penalty after penalty near the Chiefs line, the Rebels continued to choose the lineout over the points. It was all happening. Shipperly held up over the line by some Tim Nanai-Williams magic, Messam yellow carded for repeat maul infringements, Rebels fans screaming for a penalty try, and the inevitable lost lineout that gave the Chiefs a glimmer of hope. It wasn’t to be though; a knock-on by the Chiefs gave the Rebels a scrum in midfield where they were able to draw a penalty.
The siren sounded and instead of just booting the pill out they decided to go for a shot at goal. Debreczeni somehow managed to hit the woodwork and the ball came screaming back into play where it was leapt on by Rebels players. A manic ruck ensued before replacement scrumhalf Luke Burgess was able to get his mitts on it and kick it into touch. Despite scoring no second-half points, the Rebels had done enough to hang on by a point.
Final score: Rebels 16 – Chiefs 15
The Rebels will go into next week 5-5 and feeling pretty good about themselves. For the Chiefs it was a stark reminder about just how good Cruden and Retallick are, they’ll have a tough rough to the final from here.
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The Game Changer
The would-be Chiefs try being called back, and then having James Lowe sent to the bin into the bargain. In a tight game with only two tries apiece, it allowed the Rebels enough of a buffer to hang on.
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The G&GR MOTM
Could have gone to Luke Jones but it’s Jordy Reid for me. He was an animal out there, manic aggression from the get-go. Carried and linked well, a pest at the breakdown, hit like a truck and covered brilliantly.
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Wallaby Watch
Jones and Lopeti Timani put their hands up in a big way. Sean McMahon was playing a blinder before going off with an injury. Nick Stirzaker continued his impressive recent form.
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The Details
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Rebels – 16
Tries: S.Higginbotham (17), N. Stirzaker (39)
Conversions:
Penalties: J. Debreczeni 2 (6, 34)
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Chiefs – 15
Tries: C. Ngatai (57), M. Leitch (68)
Conversions: D. McKenzie (59)
Penalties: A. Horrell (22)
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Cards & Citings
Yellow cards:
J. Lowe – Chiefs (34)
L. Messam – Chiefs (75)
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Crowd
13,023
