Rebels edge resurgent Force
The Rebels fell off the pace somewhat in the second half but did enough to hold on for a tense 32-31 bonus point victory over Australian rivals the Force in Perth on Sunday.
The home side fought back after conceding four tries in the first half, and even had the lead despite being a man down at the death, but a late penalty from Rebels flyhalf Kurtley Beale claimed the spoils.
The visitors took the game to the Force from the first whistle, and stormed into opposition territory where they applied the pressure through some controlled phase play.
The Force's defensive system was unlocked when Rebels lock Cadeyrn Neville burst through to score next to the poles, and Beale duly converted to give the Melbourne side a 7-0 lead after five minutes.
The hosts responded by bashing their way into the Rebels' half, and although fullback David Harvey bounced his first penalty attempt off the upright he got his team on the scoreboard shortly afterwards to narrow the gap to 7-3.
The Rebels had done well to limit the damage and they hit back when veteran outside back Mark Gerrard made a good break to get them on the front foot in the Force's half. From there they showed good composure and continuity to take it through a few phases in the 22 before it was sent out to skipper Gareth Delve who was waiting on the left wing, and the Welshman crashed over for the try which would extend the Rebels' lead to 14-3 once converted by Beale.
The Force needed to score next to stay in the contest and they did just that when left wing Napolioni Nalaga bashed his way over, but Harvey somehow missed the simple conversion and things were looking even worse for the home side when Neville cruised over for his second try almost immediately.
Some good work from Beale got the visitors on the front foot once more, winning quick ball, and with the Force defence stretched Neville was able to dummy and gallop over for his second five-pointer.
However, the see-saw nature of the battle continued as the Force jumped straight onto attack again and after they had taken it right up to the tryline No.8 Ben McCalman was on hand to force his way over for the try from close range which cut the Rebels' lead to 21-15.
The stream of points did not end there as the Rebels wrapped up the bonus point before half-time thanks to left wing Cooper Vuna who took a long pass from Julian Huxley and skipped past the weak attempted tackle from Harvey to go over in the corner and extend the visitors' lead to 26-15.
The Force came out firing in the second half and the Rebels seemed stunned as the home team burst into the 22. Replacement Alfie Mafi showed good footwork to beat a few defenders and although he came up short the Force kept their patience and took it through a few more phases before Mafi popped up again to hit the ball at pace and go over for a deserved try which narrowed the gap to 26-22.
The game tightened up considerably after that, with neither side able to make the most of their opportunities, but they did manage to exchange penalties to take the score out to 29-25 with 20 minutes left.
The deficit was reduced to just one point when Force flyhalf Ben Seymour slotted a penalty to make it 29-28 to the Rebels, and the game was well and truly in the balance with just 15 minutes remaining.
The Perth team's resurgence suffered a blow when flank Matt Hodgson was shown a yellow card for slapping the ball out of Rebels scrumhalf Nick Phipps' hands, but that did not seem to deter them and they took the lead for the first time in the match shortly afterwards when the Rebels strayed offside.
Seymour slotted the penalty to put the Force 31-29 ahead, but the Rebels had the lead back soon afterwards when Beale knocked over another penalty of his own after a scrum infringement from the home side to give them the 32-31 advantage they held until the final whistle.
Man of the match: Rebels flyhalf Kurtley Beale provided a vital spark for his team and was a consistent threat on attack.
The scorers:
For the Force:
Tries: Nalaga, McCalman, Mafi
Cons: Harvey , Seymour
Pens: Harvey, Sheehan, Seymour 2
For the Rebels:
Tries: Neville 2, Delve, Vuna
Cons: Beale 3
Pens: Beale 2
Yellow card: Matt Hodgson (71 mins foul play)
Teams:
Western Force: 15 David Harvey, 14 Samu Wara, 13 Will Tupou, 12 Rory Sidey, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Ben Seymour, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock (captain), 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Salesi Manu, 17 Elvis Taione, 18 Phoenix Battye, 19 Lachlan McCaffrey, 20 Josh Holmes, 21 Winston Stanley, 22 Alfie Mafi.
Rebels: 15 Julian Huxley, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Lachlan Mitchell, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Gareth Delve (captain), 7 Michael Lipman, 6 Tim Davidson, 5 Hugh Pyle, 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Rodney Blake, 2 Ged Robinson, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Jono Owen, 18 Alister Campbell, 19 Hugh Perrett, 20 Nick Stirzaker, 21 Stirling Mortlock, 22 James Hilgendorf.
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Francisco Pastrana (Argentina), Johan Hoffman (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
