Rebels stun Crusaders and register first win away from Australia
Yes, I hear you crying, they are also part of the first of our Top Five for this week, but the historic win of the struggling Rebels away from home, against one of the undisputed powerhouses of Super Rugby, deserves to make the list twice.
The Melbourne Rebels travelled to Christchurch to face the 2014 finalist in a game where most gave them very little chance, but despite two yellow cards the Melbourne outfit was able to mark its first win outside of the country with a convincing 20 – 10 scoreline.
Mike Harris was precise from the kicking tee and Nic Stirzaker redeemed himself for a silly yellow card in the first minutes, scoring the deciding try.
But what made the difference for last year’s wooden spooners was a change in mentality and an increase in their resilience. These attributes allowed them them to keep the half time lead to the end: something that the Rebels were not able to do last year.
As co-captain Scott Higginbotham pointed out in the pre-match interviews: the Rebels of 2014 were not able to play for the whole 80 minutes. The first game has showed us a clear improvement.
The shining start for the Rebels: both pre-season games won and a convincing first round win, resembles that of last season. For the sake of the Australian Conference and the whole competition, we hope the rest of this season will not develop as the last one did.
Higginbotham’s game was under a cloud when he was reported for stomping Richie McCaw, but the judiciary hearing has cleared him of the accusation and he will be free to lead his team against the Waratahs next Friday.
But if you really have to stomp somebody (not that I’m saying it’s right) then The Great Pest is as good a target as any.
