Folau Fakatava's verdict on Ajay Faleafaga's first start for Highlanders

The Highlanders got off to the worst possible start in Melbourne, losing centre Jonah Lowe to a leg injury as the Rebels rolled downfield to score within three minutes through halfback Ryan Louwrens.

They were able to hit back through flanker Sean Withy running onto a short ball from halfback Folau Fakatava and a further Sam Gilbert penalty gave the visitors a 10-5 lead.

But a botched restart handed the Rebels possession straight back and some individual brilliance from Sevens convert Darby Lancaster had the Rebels straight back in front.

Halfback Folau Fakatava explained to Stan Sport that the Highlanders were expecting a difficult contest from the Rebels who are one of Australia's best sides this year.

"We know this year Melbourne are going unreal, they've got a great team," he said.

"We knew coming here was going to be a tough game, we expected it. We just need to go back and learn, get together as a team and figure out what is going on.

"With the speed of the game, they were on top pretty much most of the game. Our defence wasn't that great for slowing the ball down, so we need to work on that."

Despite the loss there were plenty of positives for the Highlanders with former New Zealand U20 first five-eighth Ajay Faleafaga starting for the first time at Super Rugby level.

The young No 10 played effectively, finishing with no turnovers and played a balanced role in the Highlanders attack. He ran seven times, passed 13 and kicked six times as Fakatava shouldered the weight of the attack from halfback.

Fakatava hoped he can build on his partnership with the new No 10 as he grows in confidence.

"I thought he had a great game tonight, his first start in Super Rugby I'm proud of him," Fakatava said.

"He just needs to build more confidence in his game but hopefully from now on we will be getting better together."

Captain Billy Harmon lamented the execution on defence after putting up 31 points.

They handed too much possession to the Rebels by giving away costly penalties.

"We are scoring a lot of points aren't we? We just have to stop a couple more and we'll be right," Harmon said.

"That just comes from our accuracy, we are giving away a lot of penalties, a yellow card early on, and we were just letting back in the game through our errors.

"We just need to tidy up that and we will going alright."