McGahan waiting on Rebels to fire

 

The Rebels fell short 20-15 against the Brumbies at AAMI Park on Saturday with the home side's passing, decision-making and ability to create openings inside its attacking 22-metre line all lacking.

 

Part of that can be attributed to the Brumbies' strong work in defence but on a night when the Rebels had more of the possession, their inability to score a try cost them dearly.

 

Despite their difficulties in attack, the Rebels had a chance to win the game after the siren due to a late Brumbies penalty but they were stopped short of the line.

 

Fullback Mike Harris kicked five penalty goals while Christian Lealiifano kicked two penalties and two conversions after tries from Tevita Kuridrani and Jarrad Butler.

 

McGahan said he was at times frustrated with the Rebels' work in attack but he was seeing signs every week that his emerging side was developing in that area.

 

"It will come and it is certainly coming quickly," McGahan said.

 

"We've taken a lot of lessons out of the past two weeks, even the Crusaders win.

 

"We're certainly not the finished article, we've got a lot of work to do and the players realise that.

 

"They're working as hard as they can and I think that is evident.

 

"While we're not far off, we're far enough away over the past two weeks to suggest that against the really top sides you need a little extra bit of composure and execution."

McGahan said the points would come for his side as the season went on.

 

"There were parts of frustration, frustration that couldn't get enough points on the scoreboard at the end," he said.

 

"But I was really proud of the effort the lads put in.

"They were tremendous and we had great belief to be able stay in the contest against a strong side.

 

"We gave ourselves a fantastic opportunity to get the points."

 

For Brumbies coach and newly appointed Wallabies assistant coach Stephen Larkham it was the way in which his team held out in the dying stages of the match that most impressed.

 

"I was very, very pleased that we got away with that win," Larkham said.

 

Larkham said he was proud of the desperation shown by his players to hold out the Rebels in the final stages making a total of 131 tackles to Melbourne's 49.

 

"Particularly in that last passage guys were clearly exhausted but they were pushing as hard as they could," he said.

 

"Last week, it was so disappointing to lose the way we did against the Chiefs and this week the guys never gave in."