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Rebels blow halftime lead to hand Crusaders Super win

Ioane Moananu of the Crusaders celebrates scoring a try during the round nine Super Rugby Pacific match between Melbourne Rebels and Crusaders at AAMI Park, on April 21, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The Melbourne Rebels have again let a Super Rugby Pacific halftime lead slip to fall to the defending champion Crusaders 43-17 in a brutal clash.

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In their last outing at AAMI Park, the Rebels led the Blues at the break before the visitors blew them away in the second half.

While Friday night’s match was a tighter affair, Melbourne’s 12-point halftime lead evaporated with the Crusaders running in four second-half tries.

It was a disappointing end to a memorable week for the club, who were looking to celebrate new deals for head coach Kevin Foote and his two assistants.

It was also a huge blow for the hosts, who entered the match in 10th spot and in dire need of wins.

The Crusaders have battled a huge injury toll but were still fourth heading into the contest with star playmaker Richie Mo’unga turning out for his 100th Super cap.

The lead changed hands three times in the second half but the Crusaders managed the game better despite some ferocious Melbourne defence.

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The visitors had all the ball early but the Rebels showed desperation to keep them out until the 11th minute, when Braydon Ennor sent a long pass out to winger Macca Springer.

To the home side’s credit they hit straight back with skipper Brad Wilkin diving across the line from the back of a ruck.

And they were in again three minutes later when No.8 Vaiolini Ekuasi scooped up the ball, lost by Crusaders centre David Havili after a big hit by Josh Canham.

Ekuasi, who also extended his Rebels deal this week, had to run 90 metres to touch down.

Halfback Ryan Louwrens then got amongst the spoils for Melbourne to take a 24-12 lead to the sheds.

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They were notably wary after their halftime lead over the Blues turned into a 54-17 loss.

And their worst fears were realised with two early second-half tries seeing the Crusaders take a 26-24 lead in the 63rd minute.

The Rebels weren’t rattled this time and went ahead again through a Reece Hodge penalty kick.

But the Crusaders kept coming and reserve hooker Ioane Moananu shrugged off defenders to storm over.

A Mo’unga penalty gave his team a nine-point buffer and then he set up a try for reserve back Dallas McLeod.

The visitors rubbed further salt into the wound with an 82nd-minute score to also collect a b onus point.

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IkeaBoy 14 minutes ago
Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Very, very thoughtful piece!


It’s far too much rugby for players as it stands and the new competitions - club world cup and Nations cup - are proposed on the basis it’s the best players competing who will usually be established test players.


An established NH test player is in pre-season from August (at the latest) then going thorough until the following July. They likely will have carried niggles and some injuries into their pre-season. They would then have between 22-30 domestic games if their teams went far and contested finals in say the URC and CC. Although many would have stand down periods, they would still train and be squad ready for all of those games.


Their test commitments across that same time would be 3/4 games (Nov series) then 5 games (6 Nations) with a rest for the July development tours. That rest would only now be once every 4 years with the Lions, Nations Cup and RWC warm-ups occupying the July window.


A squad player at club level would potentially have a full run of games in any given season but run a greater risk of injury the more often they play. They would likely know that form alone wouldn’t get them to the next level and into a national squad. It would be their bodies and their ability to recover quickly and deal with elite level competition. They wouldn’t have the baseline of having played an 11 month season so how could they upsurge a 40 cap player?


I think there will be a huge divide before long between solid club players, who are basically salary men, and the ringfenced test animals who will likely dwindle in numbers as their playing demands increase.

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LONG READ
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