Waratahs rout Rebels
The Waratahs cemented their place in the Super Rugby play-off zone with a 41-19 win over the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.
The bonus-point victory put them on top of the Australian conference and while their stay at the summit may last only a few hours, it ensures they are well-placed ahead of the looming June break.
The Rebels stayed in the game right up to the hour mark, trailing just by five points (19-24).
However, the Waratahs turned on the charm in the final quarter – with tries by Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau and Brendan McKibbin exploiting the tiring Rebels defence to blow the score out.
That late rally showed just how determined the men from Sydney are to be featuring in the play-offs come July.
With flyhalf Bernard Foley in fine form and directing play, the Waratahs had too many attacking options.
The Waratahs opened the scoring with a penalty shot by Foley, who then set up their first try with a beautifully worked set move.
He used a dummy switch to wrong-foot the defence and then off-loaded to in-form wing Rob Horne, who carved through the defence.
Two penalties by Rebels fullback Jason Woodward closed the gap to 8-6 and then in the 24th minute the hard-working home side hit lead as he slotted a third.
However, it was short-lived with Foley lining up another three-pointer after an infringement at the ruck by the Rebels.
Beale popped a lovely ball to Ashley-Cooper just before half-time that allowed the visitors to take a 16-9 lead to the break.
Melbourne's cause wasn't helped by losing hooker Pat Leafa to a yellow card right on the half-time hooter for hands in the ruck.
The Rebels' outstanding defence kept them in the match, but with big bodies such as uncapped Wallaby Will Skelton entering the fray the Waratahs started to dominate the breakdown and put Melbourne on the back foot.
The cracks opened up with flank Michael Hooper grabbing the ball from the back of the scrum to scoot across the line.
Rebels wing Telusa Veainu picked up a loose ball and dashed 80 metres to touch down in the 60th minute to close the gap to 19-24.
However, the rest of the half was one-way traffic.
Israel Folau's try, in the 71st minute, was his 10th for the season equalling a 2005 record set by Peter Hewitt.
Man of the match: Israel Folau broke his recent try-scoring drought, but our award goes to Waratahs flyhalf Bernard Foley – who dictated terms and directed play in a fashion that suggested he could be a Wallaby option in the No.10 jersey.
The scorers:
For the Rebels:
Try: Veainu
Con: Woodward
Pens: Woodward 4
For the Waratahs:
Tries: Horne, Ashley-Cooper, Hooper, Beale, Folau, McKibbin
Con: Foley
Pens: Foley 3
Yellow card: Pat Leafa (Rebels, 40 – repeated offences, killing the ball)
Teams:
Rebels: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Tom Kingston, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Tom English, 10 Bryce Hegarty, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Scott Higginbotham (captain), 7 Scott Fuglistaller, 6 Colby Fainga'a, 5 Luke Jones, 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Paul Alo-Emilie, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Steve Fualau, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Hugh Pyle, 20 Sean McMahon, 21 Josh Holmes, 22 Jack Debreczeni, 23 Telusa Veainu.
Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Alofa Alofa, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis (captain), 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Jacques Potgieter, 3 Paddy Ryan, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson. .
Replacements: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Stephen Hoiles, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Matt Carraro.
Referee: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia)
Assistant referees: Matt O'Brien (Australia), Graham Cooper (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
