The Crusaders have won their last five Super Rugby games in succession against the Melbourne Rebels by an average margin of 44 points per game; their last defeat to the Rebels came in the opening round of the 2015 campaign (20-10).
The Crusaders have won their last three straight games against the Melbourne Rebels at AAMI Park, restricting the Rebels to fewer than 20 points in each of those three games.
- The Melbourne Rebels have won only one of their last eight Super Rugby games in Melbourne (L7), a 42-27 win over the Fijian Drua in Round 6 of this season.
- The Crusaders will be out to avoid back-to-back defeats in Super Rugby for the first time since Round 5, 2018 after succumbing to a 27-23 loss to the Blues in Round 9 of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
- The Saders have won 24 of their last 25 Super Rugby games against Australian clubs (L1), including their last nine on the bounce, while the Melbourne Rebels have won only three of their last 24 games against teams from New Zealand (L21).
- The Crusaders have retained possession from 28 kicks in play this Super Rugby Pacific season, more than any other team in the competition; indeed, their 201 kicks in play this campaign are also the most of any team.
- The Rebels (143) and Crusaders (135) have gained more metres from mauls this season than any other teams, while only the NSW Waratahs (6) have scored more tries from mauls than the Saders (5).
Players to watch
- Sevu Reece has scored 11 tries in his last 10 Super Rugby games and has scored a hat-trick in each of his last two games against the Melbourne Rebels.
- No player has won more turnovers in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season than the Crusaders’ Tom Christie (8), while no Melbourne Rebels player has won more than five.
- Matt Philip has made 14 offloads this Super Rugby Pacific campaign, the most of any player in the competition, and five more than Crusaders’ best Richie Mo’unga (9).
Match detail
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1.00: PEEEP! We are underway in Melbourne for the final Super Round match of the weekend.
3.00: MISS! Matt To’omua cannot open the scoring. 0-0
5.00: NO TRY! Crusaders are playing up-tempo rugby, cutting the Rebels open after a quick lineout inside their 22. Matera’s offload to Jack Goodhue cancels out Leicester Fainga’anuku’s try. 0-0
7.00: Braydon Ennor’s clearance goes out near his try line, halting the good work of his forwards, who stole a lineout.
9.00: Sevu Reece and George Bridge combine down the sideline, after another counter-attack from the Saders’ 22, but the winger knocks on trying to beat the last defender.
11.00: A good scrum by the Rebels allows Hodge to clear the danger.
13.00: Scott Robertson’s side means business today, it is only a matter of time before they punish Melbourne’s porous defence.
14.00: Carter Gordon is on for To’omua, who was down for a few minutes with a head injury.
16.00: The Crusaders pack dismantle their Aussie opponents and win a penalty.
17.00: Reece looked dangerous again, if he scores today, he will beat Joe Roff’s long-standing try-scoring record of quickest to 40 Super Rugby tries.
19.00: Ethan Blackadder drops the ball with the Crusaders on the attack near the Rebels’ 22. That is very poor; there are lots of handling errors by the champions this afternoon.
20.00: TRY! The Crusaders have been threatening to score since kick-off. Richie Mo’unga side-stepped Josh Hill, and burst from halfway to the 22, before drawing Reece Hodge and Carter Gordon, and sending Grace away untouched. 5-0
21.00: CONVERSION! Mo’unga adds the extras. 7-0
24.00: Another Matera linebreak ends with Codie Taylor’s forward pass to Mitch Drummond going to the ground.
25.00: The Crusaders win another scrum penalty, and Mo’unga goes to the corner.
26.00: Ennor goes close before Hodge intercepts Mo;unga’s loose pass, the Crusaders counter-attack, but Ennor knocks on near the line.
27.00: Melbourne has missed 11 tackles already, it’s only the seven handling errors by the Crusaders that are keeping the score in single digits.
29.00: The Rebels win a penalty at the ruck on their line, and keep the Saders at bay for the time being.
30.00: Ennor is tackled by Gordon close to the line before Leicester Fainga’anuku loses the ball trying to go around the ruck to score.
33.00: More poor handling saves the Rebels.
36.00: Kevin Foote’s men win a kickable penalty.
37.00: MISS! Hodge hits the post, and the ball bounces out into touch – I’ve never seen that before! 7-0
39.00: The Rebels win another kickable penalty before the break.
41.00: PENALTY! Hodge lands his second attempt to put his team on the board. 7-3
The halftime score was Crusaders 7 Melbourne Rebels 3
41.00: PEEEP! We are back underway in Australia.
42.00: TRY! The Kiwis have started well again, this time they score. Fainga’anuku combined with the marauding Pablo Matera down the touchline. The South American sped away before playing Mo’unga in support. Mo’unga cut inside the defenders and sent Blackadder away. 12-3
43.00: CONVERSION! The kick is good. 14-3
47.00: Rebels hanging by thread, here.
50.00: It’s all Crusaders since the break; it’s only a matter of time.
51.00: TRY! Ennor’s linebreak opened the space inside the 22. Bridge sent a long cut-out pass to Grace on the touchline. The No 7 sucked in the cover defender and popped to Blackadder on his inside for the score. 19-3
53.00: CONVERSION! Mo’unga does not miss from the flag. 21-3
56.00: The Rebels are beginning to fade, which is not a good sign.
58.00: The Saders keep coming, but still cannot iron out their handling.
61.00: Mo’unga boots a penalty deep into to the opposition’s 22.
63.00: TRY! Bryn Hall dives over from the side of a ruck after Dominic Gardiner went close. 26-3
64.00: CONVERSION! Mo’unga drop kicks the two points. 28-3
65.00: TRY! Ennor combines with Bridge to send Tamaiti Williams away in the corner. Mo’unga made the try with a deft chip-kick that Matera chased and toed forward to set up the quick ball for Hall, who played Ennor. 33-3
67.00: CONVERSION! The kick is good. 35-3
71.00: TRY! Hodge latches on to Gordon’s grubber to score under the posts. 35-8
72.00: CONVERSION! The kick is good. 35-10
75.00: The Rebels go quickly from a penalty, Ili is stopped short before the Kiwis halt the attack.
77.00: TRY! Matt Philip crashes over after a sustained attack from an attacking lineout. 35-15
78.00: CONVERSION! Hodge adds the extras. 35-17
79.00: TRY! Fainga’anuku dots down after carrying three defenders over the chalk. 40-17
79.00: CONVERSION! Fergus Burke adds two more. 42-17
80.00: A last attack ends with a kick over the dead ball line.
FULL TIME
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The final score is Crusaders 42 (7) Rebels 17 (3)
Scorers
Crusaders
Tries – Grace, Blackadder (2), Hall, Williams, Fainga’anuku
Pen –
Con – Mo’unga (5), Burke
Drop –
Cards –
Melbourne Rebels
Tries – Hodge, Philip
Pen – Hodge
Con – Hodge (2)
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Brendon Pickerill
Assistant Ref 1: James Doleman
Assistant Ref 2: Jordan Way
TMO: Glenn Newman
Teams
Crusaders: 15 George Bridge, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Mitch Drummond, 8 Cullen Grace, 7 Ethan Blackadder, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Zach Gallagher, 3 Olie Jager, 2 Codie Taylor (captain), 1 George Bower.
Replacements: 16 Ricky Jackson, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Dominic Gardiner, 20 Corey Kellow, 21 Bryn Hall, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Chay Fihaki.
Melbourne Rebels: 15 Reece Hodge, 14 George Worth, 13 Andrew Kellaway, 12 Stacey Ili, 11 Glen Vaihu, 10 Matt To’omua, 9 James Tuttle, 8 Michael Wells (captain), 7 Brad Wilkin, 6 Rob Leota, 5 Josh Hill, 4 Matt Philip, 3 Cabous Eloff, 2 James Hanson, 1 Cameron Orr.
Replacements: 16 Efi Ma’afu, 17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Rhys Van Nek, 19 Josh Canham, 20 Tamati Ioane, 21 Sam Wallis, 22 Joe Powell, 23 Carter Gordon.
