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Rebels continue their Australian conference dominance

Reece Hodge touches down for one of his three tries during the Rebels' thumping of the Sunwolves. (Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images)

The Melbourne Rebels have maintained their stranglehold over the Australian conference after dominating the Sunwolves in Melbourne on Saturday night.

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The Rebels opened up a seven-point margin on their nearest rivals, the NSW Waratahs, as they ran in six tries in a commanding 42-15 win.

Playing at fullback, Reece Hodge bagged a hat-trick to underline his World Cup credentials.

Rebels coach Dave Wessels knows his team are leading the Australian Super Rugby standings but he’s not interested in any points buffer the team may have.

Wessels has made a point this season of not looking at the competition ladder after they were burnt last year, fading to finish ninth overall and just miss the play-offs.

“A seven-point lead feels good but if you hadn’t of told me that I wouldn’t have known,” Wessels said.

“One of the things I made a mistake with last year was getting all mixed up in all kinds of permutations and things we had to do.

“I realised that the only thing we can control is making sure that our performances every week get that little bit better so I’ve resolved to never look at the table – it’s just a little discipline that my focus in on our team and trying to win every game that we can and to get that little bit better every week and so far I’m probably a lot happier because of that.”

While the backs, including Hodge, Billy Meakes, Quade Cooper and Will Genia, got all the try-scoring action, Wessels was particularly pleased their defence limited to Sunwolves to just two tries, both scored by winger Semisi Masirewa.

He felt the Rebels were showing growing maturity and resilience in the face of mounting pressure from their opponents, pin-pointing a period just after half-time when they held them up over the tryline.

“Had they scored then it could have been a different game,” Wessels said.

“I’m really proud because I think in the past we would let some soft moments creep into our game but we threw bodies under the ball, we held them up and we managed to get out of there and survive that part of the game which in the end proved pivotal.

“That’s the resilience that we’re building as a team in those tough moments.”

– AAP / RugbyPass

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Nickers 28 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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