cyRil
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http://cyrilsplace.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/rampant-rebels-rout-cocky-canes/
written by cyRil
Rebels 42-25 Hurricanes
New-boys overcome Hurricanes in barnstorming comeback
The Melbourne Rebels came from 17-0 down to beat the Hurricanes in emphatic fashion at the AAMI Stadium on Friday night, and send their loyal and raucous crowd into raptures.
After being on the receiving end of a 50-point annihilation last week, the Rebels were expected to roll over yet again, with one of the competition's most experienced and exciting teams coming to town. But the band of hardy mercenaries confounded the vast majority of people's thoughts and predictions to put in a monumental effort around the park and gain a comprehensive win.
The Rebels celebrate an important victory
But they got off to the worst possible start in front of a raucous crowd of 17,000 in Melbourne when they conceded the game's opening try after just 6 minutes.
Although Rebels full-back, Richard Kingi, did well with ball in hand initially he got caught and turned over on his own 22, the ball supplied to mercurial centre Conrad Smith, who in-turn shipped the pill on to lock-forward Jason Eaton who thundered down the touchline and offloaded inside to namesake, Chris, who touched down out wide.
Despite Daniel Kirkpatrick's missed conversion the young fly-half had started well. He was controlling the play and pace of the game, and putting his wide men through gaps in the opposition defence at will.
It was this irrepressible style of play that brought the 'Canes next score. With 12 minutes on the clock, back-row Victor Vito received the ball from Ma'a Nonu on the left-hand side of the field, running straight and strong, swatting off a poor attempted tackle from Lachlan Mitchell to scurry away for his side's second try.
Kirkpatrick missed again with his conversion, but it didn't seem to matter as the Hurricanes were simply blowing the Rebels away with their relentless brand of rugby.
The visitors were taking the ball up well, utilising their big men in the pack to make good yardage, and were recycling very quickly – denying the Rebels the opportunity to form an organised back-line with which to defend wave after wave that was crashing against them.
Five minutes later, and the diminutive pivot Kirkpatrick was in on the action himself with a try. All Black centre Nonu showed wonderful hands to pick up a loose ball before illustrating the other side of his game by rampaging up through the heart of the Rebels defence. Ball was moved out quickly again from the base of the ruck to Kirkpatrick, who sold a delightfully speedy dummy to wrong-foot his would-be tacklers, slide through a gap and canter to the line with ease and set up a simple conversion; 17-0 'Canes in as many minutes.
The Rebels were unable to deal with the 'Canes attacking play in the first 20 minutes
15 missed tackles in 20 minutes told its own story for the hapless hosts, and it didn't seem like getting any better for the Rebels as they conceded a penalty, and territory, straight from the re-start.
However a couple of Hurricanes infringements brought play up into their 22 for the first time in the match, and with just over half of the first period played the Rebels recorded their first score of the game, when Rodney 'Rodzilla' Blake capitalised on some good driving from his forwards from the line-out to touchdown simply for the home side.
Fly-half Danny Cipriani nailed the conversion to give his side a better platform to work their way back into the game, but within minutes the boot of Kirkpatrick had stretched the 'Canes lead again to 20-7, after the Rebels were caught offside.
The added physicality to the Rebels' game in the 2nd half caught the Hurricanes off-guard
From that point, it was all Rebels.
With 9 minutes to go to half-time, lock Alistair Campbell got the Rebels' second 5-pointer of the night. Following a lovely kick through the defence from hooker, Ged Robinson, that was so perfectly placed it would have made Cipriani green with envy, the 'Canes conceded possession near to their line. From the resultant line-out the Rebels forwards set it up again, drove on and after a few phases of build-up play, Campbell found the line.
Although Cipriani was unsuccessful this time, his side didn't take long in getting back up the right end of the pitch. The Rebels' number 10 played an interesting cross-field kick just outside the 'Canes 22 which was picked up by outside centre Mitchell, making some good ground before shipping on to captain Stirling Mortlock who in-turn fed tireless openside Michael Lipman, with the England international reaching out to score his team's third try of the half.
Cipriani missed again with the conversion, but a well-struck penalty right on the half-time whistle was greeted with wild cheers from the home faithful and remarkably brought the scores level; 20-20 at the interval.
The turn-around could be attributed as much to the Rebels digging in and getting their act together as the visiting Hurricanes simply switching off after racing to a 17-point lead in the first quarter.
If the spectators in Melbourne thought their Kiwi opponents would come out clued-up and fighting in the second half they were surprisingly mistaken.
Following a good break from full-back Kingi the Rebels were awarded a penalty well within Cipriani's range, and the 7-cap international duly converted to give his side the lead in the game for the first time.
It was definitely a different Rebels outfit to the one on display in the first 30 minutes, with the players running with purpose and direction making the 'Canes defence sweat continually – displaying exciting and unpredictable play, with soft hands and penetrative running in the backs complimented by the hard graft and donkey work of the forwards to provide that platform for the men outside them to operate efficiently.
It was something that the Hurricanes just could not deal with, and in the 49th minute, the home side wrapped up a try bonus-point with second-row Campbell again on the score sheet after consultation with the TMO. The conversion was successful from Cipriani and the newly-formed franchise now had a 10 point cushion to defend with half an hour to go.
Mortlock put in a captain's performance for his team
It was not long before the Hurricanes were standing behind their posts once more as quick hands in the Rebels backline saw the ball passed out to left-wing Cooper Vuna, who evaded a couple of tackles from despairing 'Canes defenders to bundle himself over in the corner; Cipriani missing with the difficult conversion.
The Rebels' passion and commitment for one another, their province and the fans was evident in abundance, whilst the tepid and indifferent Hurricanes were slowly being humiliated by the SupeRugby newcomers.
With 20 minutes left the Rebels added a sixth score through their impressive scrum-half Nick Phipps.
Vuna was once again in the thick of the action, getting outside the wide defence before rampaging down the tram-lines and launching the ball back in-field for Phipps to collect and dive over; Cipriani adding the extras this time to make it 42-20.
The final quarter was seen out with a decreased intensity from the home side, ill-discipline and penalties littering both sides' play. Cipriani missed again from the tee, making his success ratio stand at 50% for the night – and getting people to think what the score might have been with slightly more accuracy from the Englishman.
With 3 minutes left the Hurricanes did manage a consolation score, and with it a try bonus-point, through replacement hooker Dane Coles; but it was too little too late for a side who will rightly be vilified by press and management for their complacency around the park once they had attained a seemingly healthy lead.
With the clock gone red, Cipriani received the ball from a scrum and gleefully launched it into the crowd for the referee to call full-time and send the home fans delirious at their team's second victory of the season.
Although the Rebels remain bottom of the Australian Conference, they can take great confidence in the manner of their performance and a comeback that will only bond and unite them as a team, and hopefully set them up to improve on their away form in Perth against the Force; whilst the 'Canes abject performance after taking the lead will rightly be heavily criticised, and they have plenty to do this week before taking on the Bulls in Wellington on Saturday.
Star Man: Greg Somerville – Huge performances around the park from the Rebels, but the All Black tight-head epitomised the spirit of the side with his tackling, carrying and supporting of play for the entire 80 minutes.
5-metre flop: Hurricanes – No one standout poor performance, but the way in which complacency gripped the entire team resulting in their capitulation was deplorable.
written by cyRil
Rebels 42-25 Hurricanes
New-boys overcome Hurricanes in barnstorming comeback
The Melbourne Rebels came from 17-0 down to beat the Hurricanes in emphatic fashion at the AAMI Stadium on Friday night, and send their loyal and raucous crowd into raptures.
After being on the receiving end of a 50-point annihilation last week, the Rebels were expected to roll over yet again, with one of the competition's most experienced and exciting teams coming to town. But the band of hardy mercenaries confounded the vast majority of people's thoughts and predictions to put in a monumental effort around the park and gain a comprehensive win.
The Rebels celebrate an important victory
But they got off to the worst possible start in front of a raucous crowd of 17,000 in Melbourne when they conceded the game's opening try after just 6 minutes.
Although Rebels full-back, Richard Kingi, did well with ball in hand initially he got caught and turned over on his own 22, the ball supplied to mercurial centre Conrad Smith, who in-turn shipped the pill on to lock-forward Jason Eaton who thundered down the touchline and offloaded inside to namesake, Chris, who touched down out wide.
Despite Daniel Kirkpatrick's missed conversion the young fly-half had started well. He was controlling the play and pace of the game, and putting his wide men through gaps in the opposition defence at will.
It was this irrepressible style of play that brought the 'Canes next score. With 12 minutes on the clock, back-row Victor Vito received the ball from Ma'a Nonu on the left-hand side of the field, running straight and strong, swatting off a poor attempted tackle from Lachlan Mitchell to scurry away for his side's second try.
Kirkpatrick missed again with his conversion, but it didn't seem to matter as the Hurricanes were simply blowing the Rebels away with their relentless brand of rugby.
The visitors were taking the ball up well, utilising their big men in the pack to make good yardage, and were recycling very quickly – denying the Rebels the opportunity to form an organised back-line with which to defend wave after wave that was crashing against them.
Five minutes later, and the diminutive pivot Kirkpatrick was in on the action himself with a try. All Black centre Nonu showed wonderful hands to pick up a loose ball before illustrating the other side of his game by rampaging up through the heart of the Rebels defence. Ball was moved out quickly again from the base of the ruck to Kirkpatrick, who sold a delightfully speedy dummy to wrong-foot his would-be tacklers, slide through a gap and canter to the line with ease and set up a simple conversion; 17-0 'Canes in as many minutes.
The Rebels were unable to deal with the 'Canes attacking play in the first 20 minutes
15 missed tackles in 20 minutes told its own story for the hapless hosts, and it didn't seem like getting any better for the Rebels as they conceded a penalty, and territory, straight from the re-start.
However a couple of Hurricanes infringements brought play up into their 22 for the first time in the match, and with just over half of the first period played the Rebels recorded their first score of the game, when Rodney 'Rodzilla' Blake capitalised on some good driving from his forwards from the line-out to touchdown simply for the home side.
Fly-half Danny Cipriani nailed the conversion to give his side a better platform to work their way back into the game, but within minutes the boot of Kirkpatrick had stretched the 'Canes lead again to 20-7, after the Rebels were caught offside.
The added physicality to the Rebels' game in the 2nd half caught the Hurricanes off-guard
From that point, it was all Rebels.
With 9 minutes to go to half-time, lock Alistair Campbell got the Rebels' second 5-pointer of the night. Following a lovely kick through the defence from hooker, Ged Robinson, that was so perfectly placed it would have made Cipriani green with envy, the 'Canes conceded possession near to their line. From the resultant line-out the Rebels forwards set it up again, drove on and after a few phases of build-up play, Campbell found the line.
Although Cipriani was unsuccessful this time, his side didn't take long in getting back up the right end of the pitch. The Rebels' number 10 played an interesting cross-field kick just outside the 'Canes 22 which was picked up by outside centre Mitchell, making some good ground before shipping on to captain Stirling Mortlock who in-turn fed tireless openside Michael Lipman, with the England international reaching out to score his team's third try of the half.
Cipriani missed again with the conversion, but a well-struck penalty right on the half-time whistle was greeted with wild cheers from the home faithful and remarkably brought the scores level; 20-20 at the interval.
The turn-around could be attributed as much to the Rebels digging in and getting their act together as the visiting Hurricanes simply switching off after racing to a 17-point lead in the first quarter.
If the spectators in Melbourne thought their Kiwi opponents would come out clued-up and fighting in the second half they were surprisingly mistaken.
Following a good break from full-back Kingi the Rebels were awarded a penalty well within Cipriani's range, and the 7-cap international duly converted to give his side the lead in the game for the first time.
It was definitely a different Rebels outfit to the one on display in the first 30 minutes, with the players running with purpose and direction making the 'Canes defence sweat continually – displaying exciting and unpredictable play, with soft hands and penetrative running in the backs complimented by the hard graft and donkey work of the forwards to provide that platform for the men outside them to operate efficiently.
It was something that the Hurricanes just could not deal with, and in the 49th minute, the home side wrapped up a try bonus-point with second-row Campbell again on the score sheet after consultation with the TMO. The conversion was successful from Cipriani and the newly-formed franchise now had a 10 point cushion to defend with half an hour to go.
Mortlock put in a captain's performance for his team
It was not long before the Hurricanes were standing behind their posts once more as quick hands in the Rebels backline saw the ball passed out to left-wing Cooper Vuna, who evaded a couple of tackles from despairing 'Canes defenders to bundle himself over in the corner; Cipriani missing with the difficult conversion.
The Rebels' passion and commitment for one another, their province and the fans was evident in abundance, whilst the tepid and indifferent Hurricanes were slowly being humiliated by the SupeRugby newcomers.
With 20 minutes left the Rebels added a sixth score through their impressive scrum-half Nick Phipps.
Vuna was once again in the thick of the action, getting outside the wide defence before rampaging down the tram-lines and launching the ball back in-field for Phipps to collect and dive over; Cipriani adding the extras this time to make it 42-20.
The final quarter was seen out with a decreased intensity from the home side, ill-discipline and penalties littering both sides' play. Cipriani missed again from the tee, making his success ratio stand at 50% for the night – and getting people to think what the score might have been with slightly more accuracy from the Englishman.
With 3 minutes left the Hurricanes did manage a consolation score, and with it a try bonus-point, through replacement hooker Dane Coles; but it was too little too late for a side who will rightly be vilified by press and management for their complacency around the park once they had attained a seemingly healthy lead.
With the clock gone red, Cipriani received the ball from a scrum and gleefully launched it into the crowd for the referee to call full-time and send the home fans delirious at their team's second victory of the season.
Although the Rebels remain bottom of the Australian Conference, they can take great confidence in the manner of their performance and a comeback that will only bond and unite them as a team, and hopefully set them up to improve on their away form in Perth against the Force; whilst the 'Canes abject performance after taking the lead will rightly be heavily criticised, and they have plenty to do this week before taking on the Bulls in Wellington on Saturday.
Star Man: Greg Somerville – Huge performances around the park from the Rebels, but the All Black tight-head epitomised the spirit of the side with his tackling, carrying and supporting of play for the entire 80 minutes.
5-metre flop: Hurricanes – No one standout poor performance, but the way in which complacency gripped the entire team resulting in their capitulation was deplorable.
