Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Brumbies trample lowly Rebels to book home quarter

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 02: Nic White of the Brumbies takes his place on the bench after leaving the field during the round 15 Super Rugby Pacific match between the ACT Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels at GIO Stadium, on June 02, 2023, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

The ACT Brumbies will play a home Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final while the Melbourne Rebels’ season is over, after the Canberra side ended the regular season with a 33-17 win.

ADVERTISEMENT

Three successive tries after falling behind 10-7 in the first half allowed the hosts to take control of the fixture at Canberra Stadium and consign the Rebels to a lowly 11th-placed finish.

The fourth-placed Brumbies will host the Hurricanes next Saturday night, and they will need to find another gear if they’re to keep their season alive.

They leant on their forwards to snuff out the Rebels’ hopes, conceding just 17 points in what was their equal-best defensive display of the season to date.

Trailing by three points with half-an-hour gone, a yellow card for Melbourne centre Reece Hodge, for repeated fouling, provided the break the Brumbies needed.

They quickly powered over through hooker Connal McInerney before fullback Tom Wright and centre Ollie Sapsford scored early in th e second half to put the game to bed.

Melbourne starlet Carter Gordon had earlier sliced through the Brumbies line to give the Rebels the lead but a mixed bag saw his loose pass to Joe Pincus returned 80 metres in a quick fashion for Wright’s try.

ADVERTISEMENT

ACT winger Corey Toole had opened the scoring and again pushed his Wallabies case with his trademark power and speed getting him over the line, a delightful cut-out ball from Jack Debreczeni helping him through.

The Brumbies again struggled to retain possession from their own lineout, a common theme throughout the season that they are still looking to fix up heading into finals.

Brumbies lock Nick Frost appeared to hyper-extend his knee early in the second half under tackling pressure but remarkably played out the game despite hobbling at times.

It would have provided a scare for Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, who has Frost in his Rugby World Cup plans after picking him in for the national side’s recent training camp.

ADVERTISEMENT

Melbourne hooker Jordan Uelese copped a horrific accidental knee from ACT’s Cadeyrn Neville and was taken from the field via medicab in the first half.

Uelese lay motionless while receiving attention for a number of minutes before standing up and being carted off.

The Rebels end the campaign with an unimpressive 4-10 record, and will need to find a replacement for departing stalwart Hodge who is heading to French rugby.

ADVERTISEMENT

Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo vs Kubota Spears | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 Final | Full Match Replay

Saitama Wild Knights vs Kobe Steelers | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 Bronze Final | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 42 | Investec Champions Cup Final Review

Spain's Incredible Rugby Sevens Journey to the World Championship Final | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 14

Australia vs USA | Pacific Four Series 2025 | Full Match Replay

New Zealand vs Canada | Pacific Four Series 2025 | Full Match Replay

South Africa vs New Zealand | The Rugby Championship U20's | Full Match Replay

The Game that Made Jonah Lomu

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

A
Anendra Singh 1 hour ago
Super Rugby Pacific's greatest season stained by one playoff game

I wrote posts on this on two rugby union FB platforms on June 9 (NZ time). I took it further to not only label this QF a “dead rubber” but also if the two sides had manufactured a win, with the Blues taking a raincheck on paying back the Chiefs in a future season, when a bottle neck arises.

Speculation? Indeed, but worth it to inject some credibility in SRP. With flagging interest in what has been a weak SRP, there needs to be some meaningful discussions around what needs to be done to make SRP a platform to select ABs/Wallabies from.

Now, I had reactions of “conspiracy theories” but it basically questions the motive of a repechage “Lucky Loser” facet because it only opens the playoffs to manipulation. It’s called the knockout stage for a reason. You snooze; you lose. No sweeteners required.

The only reason organisers opted for the Top 6 is for a revenue-gathering exercise but, it seems, it has backfired. The 8 qualifying format was a joke, akin to the Blues losing so many games and still making the playoffs. That smacks of the previous seasons’ dilemma.

It’s also worth noting some pool games were questionable because elite teams had done their homework on what boxes to tick for wins and which ones to forfeit. For example, Chiefs and Tahs had not performed in Lautoka against Fijian Drua on what is perceived to be a hostile pitch. Tahs had rested all Wallabies and marquee players.

The only option to retain integrity in SRP is to make to a Top 4. Cut your losses to win back the fans’ faith.

59 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING ‘Lucky losers’ Chiefs bolstered by return of All Blacks duo for semi ‘Lucky losers’ Chiefs bolstered by return of All Blacks duo for semi
Search