Melbourne’s Rebels are having their best season ever. They lead the standings in Australasia which means that although they are second they are currently the best team outside of South Africa.
The Sharks are not having a great season by their standards as they have played four matches and one won. They also have one draw but the Sharks have lost two from four matches.
- The Rebels picked up a 9-all draw in their last game against the Sharks, ending a run of four defeats in their other clashes with the South African side.
- The Sharks have won on each of their previous two visits to Melbourne to face the Rebels, those wins both coming by fewer than seven points though.
- The Rebels have won their last two games on home turf, the last time they won more was a four-game glut from April to June 2015.
- The Rebels have scored seven tries after forcing a turnover this campaign, two more than any other team in the competition.
- Four of the Sharks’ last six tries on Australian soil have been scored by forwards, with each of their last two such games seeing props cross for a five-pointer.
Match detail
We are waiting for the kick-off.
1.00: PEEEEP! We are underway in Melbourne with the Sharks in their all-white second strip.
2.00: PENALTY! Reece Hodge puts the Rebels on the board and in doing so becomes the franchise’s highest points scorer with 210 points. 3-nil
5.00: Sharks under some early pressure in Melbourne.
8.00: The visitors win a penalty after a Rebels player is pinged for not rolling away at the breakdown.
9.00: MISS! Rob du Preez pushes his penalty attempt. 3-nil
10.00: Marika Koroibete tackles Sbu Nkosi into touch, seven metres out from the Sharks’ goal-line.
11.00: TRY! Anaru Rangi is over! It came from the driving maul which split open for the hooker to glide through and score. 8-nil
12.00: CONVERSION! Hodge adds the extras. 10-nil
13.00: The Rebels are on the attack inside the Sharks half.
15.00: The TMO is looking for potential obstruction by Hodge on Marius Louw in the build-up to Koroibete’s try.
15.00: NO TRY! The five-pointer is chalked off. Still 10-nil to the Rebels.
17.00: A scuffle breaks out after a scrum. Penalty to the home side for collapsing. Hodge clears into Sharks territory.
18.00: YELLOW CARD! Curwin Bosch is off for a deliberate knockdown, stopping a certain try. Although, the ref and his assistant do not award the penalty try because of the distance from the try line.
19.00: The Sharks survive and clear the danger.
20.00: The Rebels have gone seven phases on the counter-attack before Will Genia kicks for territory, putting the visitors back on their heals.
21.00: Amanaki Mafi is knocked into touch. Boy, the Rebels have the Sharks under the pump.
22.00: Du Preez clears the danger, but only to the 22.
23.00: Another clever Genia grubber goes out, five metres from the Sharks’ goal-line.
24.00: Big shout of “BEAST!” when Mtawarira has his hands on the ball. Sharks win the penalty and Du Preez clears.
26.00: Billy Meakes is causing havoc in the midfield. another break ends with the Sharks getting a turnover and exiting with more box-kicks. Scrum to the Durbanites.
28.00: TRY! Lwazi Mvovo powers his way over the whitewash. It came from Lukhanyo Am slipping Hodge’s tackle and some interchange passing between Am, Robert du Preez, his brother Jean-Luc du Preez before Mvovo puts the sharks on the board. 10-5
29.00: CONVERSION! Rob du Preez reduces the deficit to three. 10-7
31.00: Penalty to the Rebels. Hodge opts for a shot at goal from the side-line of the sharks’ 10-metre-line.
32.00: MISS! Hodge’s radar goes missing. 10-7
34.00: Scrum in midfield for the visitors. It is reset.
37.00: Hodge kicks another penalty into the corner.
38.00: TRY! Anaru Rangi gets another. It comes from another driving maul by the Rebels. 15-7
40.00: MISS! Hodge can’t add the touchline conversion. 15-7
41.00: The try has been awarded to Amanaki Mafi, not Rangi.
The half-time score was Rebels 15 Sharks 7
41.00: We are back underway in Australia. Mvovo takes Genia out in the air. He could be yellow carded which would be unlucky because it was a fair challenge. But, we know there is no common sense in rugby.
41.00: NO CARD! Wow! Shuhei Kubo showed some common sense because the TMO Ian Smith tried to get Mvovo a yellow. Great call, ref! It’s only a penalty.
43.00: Scrum to the Rebels near the Sharks’ 22.
44.00: Penalty at the scrum for the home team.
45.00: PENALTY! Jack Debreczeni extends the lead. 18-7
49.00: It’s all the sharks at the moment.
50.00: They go nine phases before Colby Fainga’a wins the penalty at the ruck; great work by the Wallaby. Poor from the Sharks, who looked to run out of ideas.
53.00: Maddocks breaks in midfield, plays Koroibete. The wing, who should have scored, instead tried to pass to a supporting player but had his pass intercepted by Louw. Five-metre scrum to the Rebels.
56.00: TRY! It’s Will Genia and the game. 23-7
57.00: CONVERSION! Debreczeni extends the lead. 25-7
61.00: The Sharks are struggling in Melbourne. The gaps are starting to open and there is still 20 minutes to play.
63.00: TRY! Billy Meakes finishes off a wonderful free-flowing move. It came from Adam Coleman’s break. Meakes was tackled short, twisted his body and grounded the ball. It went to the TMO. 30-7
64.00: CONVERSION! Debreczeni rubs salt into the Sharks’ wounds. 32-7
66.00: The Rebels are ramping up the intensity. The Sharks are a rabble.
68.00: TRY! Ross Haylett-Petty. Fereti Sa’aga spun out of Am’s tackle, galloped forward and sent Haylett-Petty away. 37-7
70.00: CONVERSION! Debreczeni adds another. 39-7
72.00: YELLOW CARD! Maddocks is sent to the bin for a deliberate knockdown.
75.00: The Rebels win the turnover and celebrate wildly.
76.00: TRY! Mvovo gets another. Sharks win the free-kick at the scrum and take it quickly. Am runs a beautiful line and Garth April puts the wing in the gap. 39-12.
76.00: OH DEAR! No try awarded by the TMO, the Rebels player knocked it back but again, the TMO is a farce in rugby. 39-7
77.00: Scrum to the Sharks, five-metres out.
78.00: TRY! Marius Louw gets his first try in Super Rugby. 39-12
78.00: CONVERSION! Bosch adds the two. 39-14
80.00: The Rebels are in touch at the Sharks corner flag.
81.00: TRY! Fereti Sa’aga is in for the score. 44-14
82.00: CONVERSION! Debreczeni does it again. 46-14
FULL-TIME.
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The final score is Rebels 46 (15) Sharks 14 (7)
Scorers
Rebels
Tries – Rangi, Mafi, Genia, Meakes, R. Haylett-Petty, Sa’aga
Pen – Hodge, Debreczeni
Con – Hodge, Debreczeni (4)
Drop –
Cards – Maddocks (Yellow, 72′)
Sharks
Tries – Mvovo, Louw
Pen –
Con – R. du Preez, Bosch
Drop –
Cards – Bosch (Yellow, 18′)
Match Officials
Referee: Shuhei Kubo
Assistant Ref 1: Nic Berry
Assistant Ref 2: Damon Murphy
TMO: Ian Smith
Teams
Rebels
15 Jack Maddocks, 14 Sefa Naivalu, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Billy Meakes, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Will Genia, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Adam Coleman (captain), 4 Geoff Parling, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Anaru Rangi, 1 Tetera Faulkner.
Replacements: 16 Mahe Vailanu, 17 Fereti Sa’aga, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Ross Haylett-Petty, 21 Richard Hardwick, 22 Michael Ruru, 22 Tom English.
Sharks
15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Sibusiso Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Ruan Botha (captain), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Wian Vosloo, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Jacobus van Wyk, 23 Garth April.
