Sunday 3 April 2016 14:29, UK
The Rebels clung on to defeat the Waratahs 21-17 in Sydney and claimed only their second ever Super Rugby victory over their Australian rivals on Sunday.
The Rebels jumped out to a 21-3 half-time lead and, despite not scoring in the second half, hung on to win in a gutsy performance.
The Waratahs were their own worst enemies with coach Daryl Gibson calling their first half "rubbish" before they put their game together in the second period to almost pull off a comeback victory.
Once again the Waratahs conceded a large lead at home like they did against the Otago Highlanders two weeks ago and were unable to pull back the deficit in the second half.
The Rebels showed their continuing improvement, winning a match they would have lost in previous seasons with their experienced players stepping up in the pressure moments of the second half.
"We hung in and got the job done," Rebels captain Nic Stirzaker said. "We have a bit more stability in the squad and a bit more experience and belief in what we are doing. It's not the first time we've let teams back into the game, so happy to get the win."
Out-of-sorts Waratahs never got into any rhythm in the opening half, constantly dropping the ball and making wayward passes to give the Rebels the initiative.
Fly-half Jack Debreczeni scored out wide in the 21st minute and another try by prop Toby Smith put Melbourne ahead 15-3 after 25 minutes.
The Waratahs lost Test fullback Israel Folau for the rest of the half in the sin bin after he was yellow carded for playing the ball off the ground with the Rebels on the attack.
Debreczeni added two more penalties to send the Rebels into halftime with a commanding lead and with the Waratahs having it all to do.
Converted tries by Jack Dempsey and Matt Carraro gave Waratahs fans hope of victory when the home side trailed by four points with 10 minutes remaining, but the Rebels marshalled their forces to repel the comeback.
"It's the same mistakes each week, slow starts and come back strongly and we haven't rolled into any games with some flair and attacking how we want to do," Waratahs skipper Michael Hooper said.
"It's going to be tough to work it out, we've been trying for five or six weeks now so it's back to the drawing board and looking how we can get on the front foot early."
The Rebels had only beaten the Waratahs once before in 2013 in Melbourne but this was a significant result for the relatively new Australian franchise.
