McGahan seeks 'ruthless' Rebels

The Rebels claimed their first home victory of the season, beating a dogged Reds outfit 23-15 in a Good Friday clash in Melbourne.

Tries to Tom English, Nic Stirzaker and Lopeti Timani were enough to seal the win – , the Rebels unable to capitalise on opportunities close the opposition line towards the end and seal a bonus point victory.

The Rebels came into the match on the back of a loss to the table-topping Hurricanes in Wellington last week.

Rebels coach Tony McGahan was pleased to win at home against quality opposition.

However, he believes his side need to be more ruthless when presented with opportunities.

"We've been really close with our last three games here at home and haven't been able to find a way, so we're really delighted to get the win," said McGahan.

"However, we are a bit disappointed we weren't ruthless enough to get that bonus point try.

"We thought we had enough opportunities to do that, but credit to the opposition for preventing that.

"I thought the Reds were brilliant in their approach, and their courage to play with 14 men," he said of Wallaby lock James Horwill's red card for striking an opponent in the 20th minute.

"The way they stuck at their task was excellent, and a sign of a really strong group."

The Rebels have the bye before heading up to Canberra to face the Brumbies, with a next home game on May 2 against the Chiefs.

"We're happy to get the result, but I can't say we would be too pleased with the performance," Rebels skipper Scott Higginbotham said.

"Credit to the Reds with 14 men. They really dug in and stuck into us.

"We needed that third try in the second half because it was just an arm wrestle, a stop-start game for 60-70 minutes, it was a good team try."