Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'We'll attack him' - Rebels set for fiery reunion with Amanaki Mafi

Amanaki Mafi. (Photo by Koki Nagahama/Getty Images for Sunwolves)

Melbourne Rebels lock Matt Philip says stopping Amanaki Mafi is the key to beating the Sunwolves and has put his hand up for the massive Super Rugby challenge.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Rebels take on the Sunwolves in Tokyo on Saturday in a must-win match with just four rounds left to seal a finals berth.

Mafi played two seasons with the Rebels and was crowned Australian Super Rugby player of the year before leaving in disgrace after allegedly assaulting teammate Lopeti Timani in a drunken post-match incident.

During his time, his barnstorming carries made the backrower a crowd favourite in Melbourne and Philip said that was something the Rebels needed to shut down.

“I think Mafi can be a big source of energy for a team,” Philip said.

“He’s obviously a really good ball carrier, so he’s probably someone I’ll single out for myself to make sure that every time he gets the ball, to focus on hitting him early and probably stamp him out of the game pretty early as well.

“If we can stop Mafi, I think that could be a bit of an entry point to getting into their game and stopping that go-forward he brings.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Despite the circumstances of Mafi’s departure Philip said there was no ill will from the Rebels toward the Japanese international.

Timani has also since left the club.

“We’ll attack him just because he’s a good rugby player, not for anything else,” Philip said.

“He’s still got a lot of friends here in this group – he was a good guy for the most time he was here, he just made one mistake and we can’t hold everything against him for that one mistake.”

Hopeful of adding to his three Test caps ahead of World Cup selection Philip 25-year-old wants to bring more aggression to his game.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said he always enjoyed watching the likes of hard nut South African lock Bakkies Botha.

“It’s just something that if I was looking at my career, that’s something I would like to see my identity as,” Philip said.

The Rebels currently trail the conference-leading Brumbies by a point so victory over the Sunwolves, who have just two wins for the season, is crucial.

“We’ve acknowledged the situation we’re in now, the Brumbies are one point ahead of us, so every game counts.

“We’ve set our goal as a team – we want to make finals and I think we would be disappointed as a group if we don’t make finals – and I’ll definitely be disappointed.”

AAP

In other news:

Video Spacer

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

N
Nickers 29 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.

41 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
Search