Rebels tame Brumbies in Canberra
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The Rebels handled the slippery conditions better to pick up a 13-8 victory over the Brumbies in a wet Canberra.
It was the Melbourne team's first-ever victory in the Australian capital after five years, and they never gave up the lead in a dour encounter.
The upset win by the 11th-placed Rebels also snapped the Brumbies 11-game home winning streak dating back to February last year.
Points were hard to come by on the wet and greasy ground with the Rebels leading 13-5 at half-time and a sole penalty by Christian Lealiifano 23 minutes into the second half the only points after the break.
It was the first time the Rebels have beaten the Brumbies in Canberra and, for the first time since 2013, they have posted back-to-back wins after beating the Reds 23-15 in their last outing.
It was also payback for the 15-20 loss to the Brumbies in Melbourne earlier in the year.
For the Brumbies it meant back-to-back losses after falling to the Blues last week, and it was their first loss at home since going down to the Reds in February last year.
They remain at the head of the Australian conference although their lead has been cut to three points after the Waratahs beat the Hurricanes 29-24 earlier on Saturday.
With the rain creating greasy conditions, the Rebels played basic wet-weather rugby as flyhalf Jack Debreczeni kicked low allowing the ball to skate across the wet surface and causing problems for the Brumbies back three.
Scrumhalf Nic Stirzaker also played a significant role giving his opposite Michael Dowsett, one of three players on debut in the injury-ravaged Brumbies side, a torrid time around the rucks and scrums.
The make-shift Brumbies looked every bit a patched-up unit through the first half and with what ball they won they had difficulty making good use of it.
Stirzaker, who made several incisive runs from the base of the ruck, sparked the Rebels first try when he carved through a faltering defence to put Sefanaia Naivalu over in the corner.
Mike Harris landed the conversion and two penalties to have the Rebels 13-0 up before Henry Speight broke his try-scoring drought for the season when he put the Brumbies on the board on the stroke of half-time.
There were no further points until the final quarter when Christian Lealiifano landed a handy penalty to put the Brumbies within striking distance of taking the lead.
With five minutes remaining they made a concerted effort from a lineout drive to score a match-saving try but were held back by a determined Rebels defence and eventually turned the ball over.
Man of the match: David Pocock stood out in a under-par Brumbies side, and the stand-out for the Rebels was hard-working flank Sean McMahon.
The scorers:
For the Brumbies:
Try: Speight
Pen: Lealiifano
For the Rebels:
Try: Naivalu
Con: Harris
Pens: Harris
Teams:
Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Lausii Taliauli, 13 Henry Speight, 12 Nigel Ah Wong, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Michael Dowsett, 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Blake Enever, 20 Ita Vaea, 21 Jordan Smiler, 22 Nic White, 23 Rodney Iona.
Rebels: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Tom English, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Sefanaia Naivalu, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Nic Stirzaker, 8 Scott Higginbotham (captain), 7 Scott Fuglistaller, 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Tom Sexton, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Tim Metcher, 19 Cadeyrn Neville, 20 Colby Fainga'a, 21 Jordy Reid, 22 Luke Burgess, 23 Bryce Hegarty.
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: James Leckie (Australia), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
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