The Melbourne Rebels have played the Sharks seven times in Super Rugby since 2011, but the Rebels have won only one once, lost five and drawn one.
The Rebels only win, gives them a record of winning 14% of their matches against the Sharks regardless of venue.
- The Sharks have won five of their previous seven Super Rugby games against the Rebels (D1, L1); however, their only loss in that stretch came in their last visit to Victoria (23 March 2018).
- Melbourne has lost their last six Super Rugby games against South African opposition, picking up just one losing bonus point in that span.
- Dave Wessels’ side is second in the Australian Conference despite only winning once this season when they beat the Waratahs 24-10 at home, last weekend.
- The Rebels have crossed the gain line with 59% of all carries this Super Rugby season, the highest rate of any team in the competition.
- The Sharks will be on the hunt for back-to-back regular-season wins in Australia in Super Rugby for the first time since 2013/14 after earning a 23-15 win over the NSW Waratahs in their last such fixture.
- Aphelele Fassi (Sharks) has beaten 20 defenders this Super Rugby season, more than any other player in the competition.
- Fassi has scored two tries and made one assist.
- Sean Everitt’s side has won two of their three matches this season, winning both home and away, although, they did lose 38-22 last week to the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Match detail
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Jermaine Ainsley and Billy Meakes both lead out the Rebels for their 50th Super Rugby caps, while Curwin Bosch makes his 50th Super Rugby appearance for the Durban-based franchise.
1.00: PEEEEP! We are underway at Mars Stadium, Ballarat.
3.00: Rebels lose their first lineout after Steven Misa’s throw is wayward, and knocked-on.
4.00: Sanele Nohamba goes to the blindside, he plays Makazole Mapimpi, but the ball is knocked-on.
5.00: TRY! No problem this time; it is a carbon copy of South Africa’s first try of the World Cup Final against England in Japan. Sikumbuzo Notshe gathers Aphelele Fassi’s sublime grubber, draws Dane Haylett-Petty, and sends Mapimpi away. The Springboks wing slips Andrew Kellaway’s weak tackle to open the scoring. 0-5
6.00: CONVERSION! Bosch adds the extras. 0-7
7.00: Rebels are inside Sharks territory, but the ball is slow.
9.00: TRY! Melbourne hit back immediately! Andrew Deegan puts Marika Koroibete through a huge hole, with a well-weighted pop-pass, for the wing’s 18th Super Rugby try. 5-7
11.00: CONVERSION! Deegan levels. 7-all
13.00: The Sharks go to their first rolling maul, but they break away too early, killing the set-piece. Ryan Louwrens is offside. Sharks kick to the corner again.
16.00: TRY! Andre Esterhuizen dances his way through the Rebels forwards and around the broken maul, runs over Louwrens, cuts inside Koroibete, and carries Isi Naisarani over the whitewash to regain his side the lead. Louwrens will have nightmares for weeks after that. 7-12
17.00: MISS! Bosch’s kick is pushed wide by the wind. 7-12
19.00: Ox Nche is lying all over the player at the breakdown, and the referee pings the prop. Deegan calls for the tee.
20.00: MISS! The breeze is playing havoc with the kickers as Deegan’s kick sails wide. 7-12
24.00: Mapimpi cannot take Nohamba’s bullet-pass, which is high as well. Scrum to the Rebels for a forward pass, though.
25.00: A big scrum by the visitors leads to Esterhuizen winning back possession after the stand-in captain and James Venter hold-up Kellaway.
26.00: Melbourne wins the short-arm penalty at the scrum, and go quickly. Michael Wells sends Bosch flying with a barnstorming run. Venter is caught for not rolling away at the ruck.
27.00: Deegan will take another shot at goal.
28.00: PENALTY! The 24-year-old stand-off reduces the deficit. 10-12
30.00: Sharks win another penalty. Bosch calls for the tee.
32.00: PENALTY! Bosch, despite the shouts of “hurry up!” from the crowd, slots the 40-metre penalty. 10-15
33.00: Naisarani concedes a penalty at the ruck. Bosch clears the danger.
34.00: OH, DEAR! Fassi drops a high-ball, which gives the home team an attacking scrum inside the visitor’s 22′
36.00: Melbourne going through a sustained series of attacks with pick-and-drives; however, the Sharks tackle the ball-carriers 40 metres backwards to halfway before winning a penalty after the 14th-phase. I have never seen that before. A massive moment for the Durban side with a statement on defence.
37.00: Bosch kicks to the Rebels’ 22.
38.00: A couple of knock-ons from both teams sees the Sharks get an attacking scrum deep inside the Australians’ 22.
39.00: Tom English throws a hospital pass to Kellaway after English won possession, but Mapimpi’s tackle is too high on Kellaway.
40.00: TRY! Madosh Tambwe finishes a sweeping counter-attack after Thomas du Toit won a wayward Rebels’ throw and charged to the goal-line before being tackled by a couple of defenders short of the line. The ball gets recycled quickly to the wing, who waltzes in for the five-pointer. 10-20
41.00: CONVERSION! Bosch slots the tricky kick. 10-22
The halftime score was Rebels 10 Sharks 22
41.00: PEEEEP! We are back underway in sunny Victoria where the Sharks are putting on a vintage display in Australia’s former gold mining city.
42.00: Venter and Kerron van Vuuren tackle Koroibete but looked to have tip-tackled the winger. It’s the hooker Van Vuuren who looks set to be carded.
42.00: YELLOW CARD! Van Vuuren is in the bin for 10 minutes. 10-22
43.00; Good run from Meeakes, but Esterhuizen holds up the centre; however, the Sharks are offsides about three times in the attacking play. Referee AJ Jacobs might have to go to his pocket again if the Sharks ill-discipline continues.
44.00: Dane Haylett-Petty opts for another scrum, which is under the posts. Reset. Venter is off and Craig Burden is on at hooker for Van Vuuren.
46.00: Melbourne batter the Sharks’ line, they go through the phases earning another two penalty-advantages for offsides. Tambwe will be carded for the repeat infringements.
46.00: YELLOW CARD! Tambwe joins Van Vuuren. 10-22
47.00: The scrum goes down yet again. Reset. Sharks killing time.
48.00: TRY! The Rebels go blind to Koroibete, who charges to the try-line; however, the wing is double-tackled, losing the ball as he tries to reach out and score. But Naisarani picks up the loose ball off his boot-laces to finish a sustained period of attack. 15-22
50.00: CONVERSION! Deegan’s kick is good. 17-22
52.00: The visitors need to consolidate with 13 men, consequently, the hosts need another score while they have the two-man advantage.
53.00: Bosch pins the Rebels inside their 22.
54.00: English’s clearance is out on the full after the Rebels took the ball back into their 22.
55.00: Superb work at the breakdown by the Rebels. They win the turnover at the breakdown, send the ball wide to Deegan, who clears to halfway with a monster kick. Van Vuuren returns.
56.00: Melbourne knock-on a miscue by the South Africans.
57.00: Sharks win the penalty. Bosch sets up an attacking lineout on the opposition’s 22.
58.00: Another stolen lineout; the Sharks hookers are having a ‘mare.
60.00: The ball ricochets off Matt Philip’s head and bounces out. The Sharks lose another lineout but win back possession before winning a tackle after Fassi is tackled without the ball by Anaru Rang.
62.00: Sharks are building the phases; it’s 12 phases as they march up the field.
64.00: TMO REFERRAL: The 19-phase attack sees Mapimpi go close after the Sharks went 34 metres. The Sharks had a penalty-advantage before Mapimpi stretched for the chalk.
64.00: TRY! Mapimpi is awarded the try after the TMO cannot find “compelling evidence” that the ball was not grounded. 17-27
65.00: CONVERSION! Bosch gives his team some daylight. 17-29
66.00: OH, DEAR! Deegan’s restart is out on the full; midfield scrum to the Sharks.
69.00: Rebels win another penalty; Deegan kicks to the opposition’s 22.
72.00: TRY! Mapimpi gives the ball to Bosch to dot-down after Esterhuizen won the turnover and the Sharks raced 95 metres to score. Game over! 17-34
73.00: CONVERSION! Bosch converts his try. 17-36
75.00: Rebels no this game is over.
79.00: TRY! Rangi gets a consolation after some good work by Cottrell, Deegan, and the forwards. 22-36
79.00: DROP-KICK CONVERSION! The kick is taken quickly. 24-36
80.00: Marius Louw, wins the turnover after Naisarani’s midfield break. Scrum to the Rebels.
81.00: Siren sounds as the teams get ready for the scrum.
82.00: A knock-on kills the game. Sharks are victorious!
FULL TIME
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The final score is Rebels 24 (10) Sharks 36 (22)
Scorers
Rebels
Tries – Koroibete, Naisarani, Rangi
Pen – Deegan
Con – Deegan (3)
Drop –
Cards –
Sharks
Tries – Mapimpi (2), Esterhuizen, Tambwe, Bosch
Pen – Bosch
Con – Bosch (4)
Drop –
Cards – Van Vuuren (Yellow, 42′), Tambwe (Yellow, 46′)
Match Officials
Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant Ref 1: Damon Murphy
Assistant Ref 2: James Quinn
TMO: George Ayoub
Teams
Rebels
Head Coach: Dave Wessels
15 Dane Haylett-Petty (captain); 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Tom English, 12 Bill Meakes, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Andrew Deegan, 9 Ryan Louwrens; 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 Richard Hardwick, 6 Michael Wells; 5 Matt Philip, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty; 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Steven Misa, 1 Matt Gibbon.
Replacements: 16 Anaru Rangi, 17 Cameron Orr, 18 Cabous Eloff, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Angus Cottrell, 21 Rob Leota, 22 Frank Lomani, 23 Theo Strang.
Sharks
Head Coach: Sean Everitt
15 Aphelele Fassi; 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (captain), 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Sanele Nohamba; 8 Sikumbuzo Notshe, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 James Venter, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden; 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ox Nche;
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.