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Furious Rebels reiterate defiant position over Super Rugby cull

Melbourne Rebels’ AAMI Park

Melbourne Rebels have again implored the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) to end speculation surrounding cuts from Super Rugby, and will refuse to entertain such a notion with the governing body.

Super Rugby’s 18-team format will be ditched next season, with two South African franchises and one from Australia to make way.

The ARU confirmed last month that the Rebels and Western Force were the only ones from five available teams being considered.

Western Force, owned by the ARU, are thought to be the likeliest side to go, but the Rebels remain furious with the ARU’s handling of the matter and released a fresh statement on Friday following their earlier expression of disgust last month.

“The Melbourne Rebels wish to reiterate its clear legal position that the ARU has no legal right to “cut” them as a team in the Super Rugby Competition,” Friday’s statement read.

“The ARU must come out and publicly put an end to the speculation. For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, neither the Melbourne Rebels nor its owners will engage with the ARU in relation to the sale or cancellation of its Super Rugby licence.

“On 10 April 2017, Cameron Clyne Chairman of the ARU announced that either the Melbourne Rebels or the Western Force would be “cut” within 48-72 hours despite having no contractual or legal ability to do this.

“The Melbourne Rebels made a statement on Good Friday of its position and requested that the ARU come out and immediately state that it could not ‘cut’ the Rebels. We are now five weeks further into the 2017 season with no statement from the ARU. The ongoing speculation concerning our future has tested the resolve of the club, our sponsors, our members and our fans. The ARU actions are not only impacting our 2017 season, they are now impacting our 2018 season.

“The Melbourne Rebels are a key tenant in one of the world’s greatest sporting precincts and we intend on representing professional rugby in Melbourne for a long time to come. The Melbourne Rebels acknowledge the strong support given by the Victorian Government to the club and rugby in the state.

“We ask our fans, supporters and members to get behind the Melbourne Rebels and demonstrate that rugby is alive and thriving in Melbourne, Victoria, the sporting capital of the world, at our next home game against the Crusaders on Saturday 27 May.

“We thank them all for their ongoing support and encourage them to continue to stand with us.”

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Nickers 23 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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