Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: New boys the Melbourne Rebels upset the Brumbies

Sunday, February 27, 2011

New boys the Melbourne Rebels upset the Brumbies

The Melbourne Rebels shocked the Brumbies on Friday night at AAMI Park with a last gasp 25-24 win thanks to the boot of Danny Cipriani, and a try earlier on by captain Stirling Mortlock.

A week ago the Rebels were the laughing stock of the competition, going down to a heavy 43-0 defeat by the Waratahs, raising questions about their inclusion and the overall expansion of the Super 14 to Super Rugby.

They’ve proved the critics wrong though with a gutsy performance that included 124 tackles to the 33 of the Brumbies. "Our scramble defence was incredible," said Welshman Gareth Delve.

"We knew that if we stayed in it, we could score points. Everybody stepped up. We've got a lot of quality in our team. We believed in ourselves."

Former England flyhalf Danny Cipriani kicked 20 points with his six from seven kicks, including the late penalty that won the game for the home side after a controversial call by referee Jonathan Kaplan, who had earlier missed what looked like a forward pass for the Brumbies try.

For Stirling Mortlock however, scoring the first ever Melbourne Rebels try against his former side the Brumbies must have been quite special. You couldn’t have scripted it better, and with the late winning kick, the city of Melbourne are now warming to their new side nicely.

The Rebels are away next week though, heading to Hamilton to face the Waikato Chiefs.

Time: 05:00

To come back from last week and pull together a win over another respectable team...well done Rebels :)

But...GO THE TAHS! :P

By Philip, at February 27, 2011 11:40 am
arent the posts wider than normal ??? Cipriani did well but with those goalposts anyone wouldve done that

By Anonymous, at February 27, 2011 11:41 am
Haha yeah, the ball was also rounder and the Brumbies were thinner, shorter, and slower. :P

Oh and the refs had bigger whistles and the turf was shorter for Stirling as he ran through for the try. Melbourne mixin it up.

Seriously though, good win. And a very good kick by Cipriani there! :)

By Laz, at February 27, 2011 11:54 am
cipriani has been playing great, not just place kicking, but also with ball in hand

By Cheis, at February 27, 2011 11:55 am
Considering that they were beaten so badly last week, does this mean that this time the Rebels played well, or that the Brumbies just aren't as good as the Waratahs?

By Curious George, at February 27, 2011 12:04 pm
The brumbies are definately not going to do very well this year, same as last year giteau cant get good "go forward" ball to his classy backs (adam-ashley-cooper) so they dont put teams to the sword when they should. The rebels had very good discipline on the night which was pretty much all the cost the brumbies. The rebels hardly had the ball the whole game. The last penalty was a bizarre thing to happen though. It seemed like no one did anything and then it was a full arm.

By Anonymous, at February 27, 2011 1:05 pm
I guess there should be a bunch of apologies appearing soon from the fat lazy arm chair supporting cunts who've never taken to the field and slagged Cipriani off last week?

By Anonymous, at February 27, 2011 1:06 pm
Jeez, settle down there, Anonymous.

By fry, at February 27, 2011 1:26 pm
Well done cipriani. I've never been a fan but he showed his resolve during that game.

Jinsy penalty by Kaplan at the end, perhaps made up for the forward pass leading to the try.

The pass by the rebels wing to mortlock fir the try was pretty outrageous ehh? Infield over 3 defenders, went about 10 yards. Loved it!

By Canadian content, at February 27, 2011 2:22 pm
Thanks for the clip RD - not everyone has the financial means to afford pay TV.

Good to see a new team getting off the mark early - didn't it take the Western Force almost an entire season? They also seem to have a fantastic looking stadium to play in - reminded me of the Eden Project.

Great pressure kick from the talented but inconsistent Cipriani at the end - but stupid penalty to concede to even give him the chance.

Several passes looked dodgy to me but its always one thing viewing from an elevated stationary camera and another from pitch level whilst running to keep up with play.

By Captain Ochre, at February 27, 2011 4:25 pm
'I guess there should be a bunch of apologies appearing soon from the fat lazy arm chair supporting cunts who've never taken to the field and slagged Cipriani off last week?'

Ofcourse not, i still hope he gets smashed. (:

By Eng Fan, at February 27, 2011 4:25 pm
kaplan is a shit excuse for a reff. he shouldn't be going to the world cup

By Anonymous, at February 27, 2011 6:40 pm
It looks wider, but that's because of the aspect ratio on the video.

Great composure from Cippers to land those kicks! I'm sure we'll be seeing him in an England shirt again when Wilkinson finally hangs up his boots.

However, Giteau is in a class of his own. Can't wait to see Aus in the World Cup.

By SmellyNerfherder, at February 27, 2011 8:06 pm
Supposedley the Brumbies are in coaching disarray.
Friend has lost the support of his players according to some newspaper reports.
Who knows how true that is, though the Brumbies certainly aren't playing to their potential at all.
For a team with alot of talent in their side, they are playing failry poorly.
Not to take anything away from the Rebels who played with a massive amount of commitment, especially on defense.

By Jono, at February 28, 2011 1:52 am
What was the penalty for??

I cannot fathom it, I have watched twice on here and see nothing and can't hear what Kaplan says

Can someone please tell me so I can feel properly aggrieved

By Ned2or3, at February 28, 2011 5:06 am
I like how cipriani palys, he does make some stupid desicions sometimes but he also pulls off some class plays. I would like to see him in an England shirt when Wilko retires but he wont get in, he doesnt fit in with Martin Johnsons game. well done rebels!

By Stag, at February 28, 2011 4:58 pm
Yeah, that 79th minute penalty was a shocker, at least from the limited video I saw here.

Does someone else have the full story? Did Kaplan have issues at the scrum brewing the whole time? Was that player already on a verbal warning of some sort?

There has to be some reason -- Kaplan (IMHO) is not a referee eager to impose his will so directly onto the outcome of a match.

By cheyanqui, at March 01, 2011 7:32 pm
He just made a weird desicion.
For some reason he penalised the Ma'afi for a little push, which is even stranger because the Rebels propr had pushed Ma'afi first!
Just a stupid call from the ref, maybe the home crowd influenced him?
Either way it was ridiculous, that kind of thing happens after almost every scrum and should never penalised, unless it breaks out into a full on punch up.

By Jono, at March 01, 2011 11:20 pm
Who are the Melbourne Rebels supporters? I no very little about superugby so excuse my ignorance if they are the only team in a region...

But did they start up in a region with another team? if so who are the supporters? I mean if a team started say right near Bath or something, I dont think the bath supporters would suddenly become this new teams fans.. or is it a sort of 'we live closer to the rebels than the ____'s' ?

Also does Superugby have the same sort of stuff as for instance English clubs do...I mean that in the sense that the team i play for is just below National league 3, and if we (we wont...) but if we were promoted every season including this one right for the next 6 years then we would be playing in the guinnes premiership...

So does the superugby have the same set up? or is it literally a case of whoever is last is just last and they hope to do better next year, i.e there is no promotion into the league and no relegation?

By M, at March 02, 2011 2:23 am
M, Superugby is much more like the NFL than the English system.

Promotion relegation does not exist, the teams are franchises and if they come last, they just come last. There's no team to replace them. Financially it wouldn't be viable otherwise. Plus the countries involved don't have the same romantic attachment to promotion/relegation that exists in the UK/Europe.

The Rebels are in a fairly unique position. Melbourne has never, ever had any proffesional rugby team before. Melbourne is not a rugby city, Victoria (the state it is capitol of) has very little rugby history. Rugby exists in a few ametuer comps (small comps, only a small number of teams and players) and at a few posh schools.

This new team is a brand new thing for Melbourne (Melbourne is obsessed - and I mean bordering on religious fervour obsessed - with AFL - Australian Football - they invented it and love it like crazy).

Many of it's supporters are ex-pats, immigrants from New South Wales and Queensland, New Zealand, the and UK/Europe. Most native Melbournians would have only a passing curiosity and view rugby as something alien to their city.
Some are sort of warming to it, but definatly do not grow up watching or playing it.

Rugby Union in Australia is not a huge sport. It's a fringe sport and is only really healthy in terms of participation and mass popularity in NSW and QLD. Virtually all pro players come from these two states.

Even in NSW and QLD, it is much less popualr than rugby league and isn't much more popualar than soccer, or even AFL.

By Jono, at March 02, 2011 3:29 am
Hey Jono.

Thanks v much for the info :)

By M, at March 03, 2011 3:13 am