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Rebels routed by clinical Waratahs

Dean Mumm scores for the Waratahs against Melbourne Rebels

Melbourne Rebels’ miserable Super Rugby season continued as they suffered a thumping 50-23 defeat to the Waratahs in Sydney and lost stand-in skipper Reece Hodge to a head injury.

Amid continued uncertainty over their future in the competition, the Rebels have managed just one win in 2017 and their hopes of claiming a second were hit inside two minutes on Sunday as Hodge hurt himself tackling Israel Folau and was forced off on a stretcher.

Although Melbourne’s attack posed a threat in Hodge’s absence, they were out-scored eight tries to three as the Waratahs claimed a welcome victory and a bonus point to move second in the Australian Conference.

After Nick Phipps’ early score, Dean Mumm, Ned Hanigan and Folau all crossed for the Waratahs in a 10-minute period of dominance before the interval that earned a 24-11 lead.

Prior to that, the Rebels had held a slender advantage, thanks chiefly to Amanaki Mafi going over after a string of penalties had seen Silatolu Latu yellow carded.

When the Tahs were reduced to 14 men again early in the second half, Bernard Foley heading to the sin bin for an intentional knock-on inside his own 22, Melbourne again capitalised immediately through Jonah Placid.

Although Folau claimed his second try soon after, Placid rounded off a swift counter-attack on the hour to again get the Rebels within one score.

Yet it was the Tahs who finished much the stronger, Michael Hooper touching down at the end of an eye-catching move before late tries from Damien Fitzpatrick and Bryce Hegarty brought up the hosts’ half-century.

 

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TI 4 hours ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Italy | Autumn Nations Series

Rieko took literally years to turn from a defensive liability at 13 into a guy, who’s defensively sound as it befits the position. And it all came at the cost of him being much less of an offensive threat, than what he used to be. Proctor is a natural 13, he handles, passes, and kicks way better than Rieko ever will, he just isn’t as fast.


It’s unfair to judge Tupaea on the handful of games he’s had in 2022 before he got nearly crippled by a Wallaby lock. What could Tupaea/Proctor pairing be, if they got the same amount of chances as Jordie/Rieko?


Because no matter how you spin it, playing a player outside of his natural position is a poor asset management. No matter how talented he is, he still competes against players who had years and years of practice at the position. And if said guy is so talented that he actually CAN compete against specialists, imagine how much better still he could have been, if he had all those years to iron the toothing issues at the position. It just drives me mad.


Two things I hate in rugby union beyond description: aping after league, and playing players outside of their natural position. Especially considering, that they all admit they hate it, when they’re allowed to speak freely. Owen Farrell spent 80% of his international career at 12, saying every time when asked, that he is a 10 and prefers to play at 10. Those players are literally held at a gunpoint: play out of position, or no national jersey for you.

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