4. Rebel Return
I mentioned on the podcast last week that I didn’t think the Rebels were that far away from their best, despite losing comfortably to the Crusaders and Waratahs in the last two weeks. Sure enough they turned up against the Brumbies, and took advantage of an average performance by the Canberrans to take the points.
It is now clear that Jason Woodward is the lynch-pin of the Rebels this season, and he continues to grow in confidence. He is their most threatening attacker, and the only player who can kick goals to super standard. You can see the other backs lift when he is there, they feed off his creativity- Tom English was back to his best, Tamati Ellison was in great form and Mitch Inman is fast becoming the most consistent player in the competition, a new and improved Tom Carter perhaps?
The most pleasing aspect of the Rebels this season has to be their defence. Their poor tackling has set them back every year, and while their attack was solid when you consistently concede over 25 points it is very very hard to win games. This year it is clear that progress has been made. They held the Crusaders to two tries and were probably unlucky to concede four tries against a red hot Tahs backline with Beale and Folau in full flight. They continued on against the Brumbies, ad must surely now have the belief they can beat any side in the comp on their day.
For the visitors they just weren’t quite there. They were prone to these kinds of performances last season as well, where for whatever reason their usual brutality and relentlessness went missing for a night. Certainly not panic stations, but with a clustered comp this year and the aforementioned importance of the minor premiership they cannot afford to drop any more games in that manner.
