Melbourne Rebels look to rebound against high-flying Western Force

COACH Tony McGahan insists the struggling Rebels are on the pathway to success as they prepare to face high-flying Western Force.

Hugh Pyle charges ahead for the Rebels against the Chiefs.

BOUND for a historic Good Friday clash this week with high-flying Western Force, Melbourne Rebels coach Tony McGahan insists his young squad is on the pathway to success despite another sapping loss.

Melbourne insiders are adamant the Rebels should have posted their first overseas win on Saturday night when they had reigning champions Chiefs on the ropes despite trailing 19-0 early.

Poise, handling and decision-making cost Melbourne dearly in the final 10 minutes when it repeatedly threatened a ragged 14-man Chiefs defence, eventually losing 22-16.

Now, faced with a rampant Force chasing an unprecedented sixth successive win, McGahan again has to negotiate the delicate balance between praise and criticism.

“We’re realistic with the group and where we are learning-wise,” the former Wallabies defence coach said.

“We’ve played the Crusaders, lost by six points, Highlanders away (lost by) three points and now we’ve had an opportunity to beat the Chiefs at home.

“We certainly realise that we’re improving, we’re not too far away, but far enough away not to win.

News_Image_File: Tamati Ellison runs the ball for the Rebels against the Chiefs at Waikato Stadium.

“We’ve got a pretty young halves partnership (Nic Stirzaker and Bryce Hegarty), we’ve got some young guys experiencing professional rugby for the first time.

“Those learnings are hard, harsh, painful, necessary and we’re getting all of those at the moment and we really need to turn those into results.

“We’ll get plenty out of (this game), we’ll get some really good stuff — stuff that we need to work on.

“As long as we do that, those wins will come. They’ve got great ticker, great belief and great spirit and the wins will come off the back of that.”

Melbourne opted not to take a scrum in the dying minutes when there was the prospect of a penalty try after Chiefs forward Pauliasi Manu had been sin-binned.

Referee Matt O’Brien had clearly lost patience with the Chiefs’ illegal defence and had the Rebels continued to hammer the scrum, they almost certainly would have been rewarded.

Instead, a decision to play on with a quick tap resulted in a handling error and another turnover.

“Really one that got away, I thought,” McGahan said.

News_Rich_Media: Catch all the highlights from Waikato Stadium where the Chiefs take on the Melbourne Rebels.

“Great fight back from our lads and great endeavour to stay in the contest and nearly got close enough to get the result in the end.

“We had spoken about getting a good foothold into the game early, but we did the opposite — we sat back and waited.

“They hit rucks hard, they hunted and tackled extremely well, they carried with a great presence — 16 points in 15 minutes left us with a lot to do.

“Full credit to the Rebels players, they stayed in the contest when some sides might have shirked it out there when they (Chiefs) were on a big roll.

“They dug in, they chipped away at the scoreboard and they gave themselves a great opportunity to win the game.”

Melbourne’s hopes were severely dented early in the second half when captain Scott Higginbotham was ejected for a deliberate infringement.

News_Image_File: Rebels flyhalf Bryce Hegarty is tackled.

The Wallaby back-rower was in an unforgiving mood post-match as he reflected on calls to turn down penalty attempts to push for tries.

“As captain, I think I made some decisions and they could be wrong decisions and I take responsibility for that,” he said.

“Getting your captain in the bin, that’s not the smartest thing. Playing with 14 men, the boys dug deep and they did really well.”

The Rebels will await reports on scrumhalf Stirzaker, who needed x-rays to his ribcage after suffering a heavy knock to his side.

Widely predicted to finish bottom of the Australian conference, the Force posted a remarkable fifth straight win on Saturday night, downing NSW.

The success followed wins over Melbourne, Highlanders, Queensland and the Chiefs.

Melbourne holds a 5-2 lead in head-to-head with the Force but will face a vastly improved opponent on Friday.

The Rebels are aiming to raise $50,000 from the match for the Good Friday Easter Appeal.