Rebels Crack The Champagne Against The Stormers

Rebels Crack The Champagne Against Stormers.

By Mark Humphrey

Winners Are Grinners.

The Melbourne Rabo Direct Rebels were finally rewarded for their efforts over the past 5 weeks with a 30-21 win against the South African Stormers at AAMI Stadium tonight.

In what was a cold Melbourne night the action on the park was far from cold. Both sides started the game looking to get the edge which resulted in numerous handling errors by both sides.

The Stormers 3^rd on the South African conference looked to be better qualified than the Rabo Direct Rebels who sat in 4^th place on the Australian conference table. The Stormers carried a negative 4 point difference into the match as opposed to a negative 110 point difference for the Rabo Direct Rebels.

Rebels Fly half Bryce Hegarty intercepted a Stormers pass 1 minute into the game as the Stormers were pushing forward which signalled the Rebels had come to play.

The Rebels were awarded a penalty within the first 4 minutes which was converted by stand in Fullback Jason Woodward. Due to the injury sustained last week by superstar James O’Connor, Woodward would have the duties of kicking for the night. The first attempt was a sign of things to come for Woodward and the Rabo Direct Rebels. Rebels had first blood after 6 minutes of play and led 3-0.

The Rebels defence was on top early forcing several turnovers from the pressure they were applying to the Stormers ball carrier. The Stormers didn’t help themselves with uncharacteristic errors whilst having possession.

13 Minutes into the game and the roof was lifted off the stadium by an enthusiastic home crowd as Captain Scott Higginbotham crossed the line for the Rebels first try. Woodward converted to give the Rabo Direct Rebels a 10 – 0 lead.

The Stormers started to get some rhythm in their forward movements and benefited from an attempted Rebels intercept which was deemed a knock on. From the scrum the ball was feed out to Scrumhalf Louis Schreuder who was momentarily tackled by the Rebels backs. Schreuder regained his footing and broke two Rebel tackles to score the Stormers first try of the night. Fullback Johan Pietersen kicked truly with his conversion attempt to have the Stormers trailing the Rebels by 3 with 16 gone in the first half.

Pressure from both defensive outfits were forcing errors by the ball carriers with the Stormers finally making some ground and looking to open up the game down the right hand side. A knock on by the Stormers was due to immense pressure applied by the Rabo Direct Rebels and halted what looked to be a definite scoring opportunity for the Stormers. On the other side the Rebels looked to use Woodward with wide passes to open up the game for the Rebels. With the Rebel scrums looking the better it seemed that the Rabo Direct Rebels were in control of the match.

A momentary lapse in concentration by the Rebels and a series of quick passes by the Stormers had Right Lock Andries Bekker breaking the Rebel line and feeding off to returning Stormers star Left Winger Bryan Habana for the Stormers second try of the night. Pietersen converted truly to give the Stormers the lead for the first time in the match 14 – 10 with 28 gone on the clock.

The Stormers gave up consecutive scrum penalties with the Rebels looking to take advantage. The Rebels had moved the ball to their attacking 22 line and looked to have the momentum before knocking on. The next series of plays by both sides resulted in turn-overs which had been the theme of the night.

The Rabo Direct Rebels were also using Scrumhalf Nic Stirzaker to open up the play with his quick hands. Stirzaker was having a good game and looked dangerous with his quick thinking and quick hands. A Penalty by the Stormers for not rolling away gave Woodward an opportunity 40 out to score a 3 pointer. Woodward converted to have the Rebels 1 point behind going into the main break. The Rebels looked to be on top defensively and it was only a couple of missed tackles by the Rebels that allowed the Stormers to go in at the main break with a single point lead.

Into the second half action the Stormers although holding a 1 point lead needed to lift their percentages and take advantage of penalties awarded to them. The Stormers received a penalty and found touch at their attacking 22. From the ruck the Stormers managed to throw the ball clear over the back giving the Rebels the opportunity to clear the ball. Stormers once again moved into their forward territory only to give up a penalty once again. Full credit had to be given to the defensive play of the Rebels as they just kept mounting pressure on the ball carrier.

With 50 gone in the match both teams had turned over the ball on a number of occasions and it wasn’t until the Rebels found some space on the right that things started to look differently. A series of passes by the Rebels from the right side to the left had Left Lock Hugh Pyle crossing the line for the Rebels 2^nd try of the night. Woodward kept up his 100% strike rate and converted giving the Rabo Direct Rebels a 20 -14 lead with 54 gone in the match.

The Rebels looked the stronger outfit at this stage of the game and forced yet another Stormers turnover only to give the ball directly back to the opposition. The Stormers capitalised on this and marched forward going to both sides of the field opening up the left hand side. A series of passes and a fortuitous bounce gave Right Lock Bekker another scoring opportunity which he ceased upon. Pietersen converted from the left hand line to put the Stormers back in front with a 21-20 lead at the 60 minute mark.

Rebels reserve Kimami Sitauti made his debut and had an immediate impact on the game. Like Alex Rocobaro some weeks earlier he added extra dash outside and was also hard at the ball. Rebel’s Head Coach Damien Hill also introduced Gareth Delve and Jordy Reid to the field which seemed to give the Rebels outfit extra aggression and punch at the ball. Weeks was also making his presence felt at this stage of the match and it seemed to lift the Rebels.

After giving up a penalty the Rebels were defending 10 metres out from the Stormers try line. Stormers on 2 occasions elected to go for the try within 10 metres of their try line in lieu of taking a penalty kick. This proved to be costly as outstanding defensive work by the Rebels eventually denied the Stormers a try with the Rebels clearing the ball.

Stormers with the ruck in had the ball stolen by Pyle and then a knock on by the Stormers minutes later gave Woodward a penalty opportunity 50 out directly in front. Woodward’s shot fell 3 metres short allowing the Stormers to clear the ball.

Rebels reserve Sitauti was still giving the Rebels plenty of run and hitting the packs hard. Rebels forced the ball forward with Phipps kicking towards the try line. Phipps 15 out whilst trying to break the Stormers line was impeded and after a video review referee Mike Fraser award a penalty try to the Rebels. Woodward converted truly to give the Rabo Direct Rebels a 27-21 lead at the 75 minute mark. A yellow card given to Hooker Martin Bezuidenhout directly after the conversion didn’t help the Stormers cause who now needed a converted try for victory with 5 minutes left in the game.

Strong work by Delve at the Rebel’s 30 line forced a turnover giving the Rebels the feed. The Rebels used the pack to gain inches with every play until the Stormers gave up a penalty. Woodward 30 out to the right made no mistake and sealed the game for the Rebels at the 79^th minute of the match.

With the final siren sounding the Rebels had won the game 30 -21 and fully deserved the win. Missing some of its biggest superstars, the Rabo Direct Rebels played pressure footy all night and with the inclusion of fresh legs in the latter stages proved to be the difference in the game.

Head Coach Damien Hill was happy with the young guys who have had only 1 or 2 years on the big stage and felt that they had come on over the last 5 weeks. He felt the team had played well over the last 4 weeks and lifted that extra 5% tonight to get the win. He felt like the win had been coming for weeks. Without going into names he felt Hegarty added value.

Captain Higginbotham was happy with the team’s defensive effort all night and thought that it contributed heavily towards the win.

Stormers Head Coach Allister Coetzee thought his team put in their worst performance of the year. He said training was flat this week and it carried onto the field on match day. He was disappointed with the ball handling of his senior players and said they just need to get back on track for the rest of the season.

The Melbourne Rebels host the Waratahs next week with the Stormers hosting the Reds.

Next weekend the Melbourne Rebels are having their annual ball at Crown. For more information go to their website.

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