Heartbreak for Waratahs as Rebels end their history of choking by snatching last playoff spot
The Waratahs have missed the Super Rugby finals after the game’s biggest chokers – the Melbourne Rebels – finally found a way to get the win a spot in the playoffs.
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The Waratahs have missed the Super Rugby AU finals in heartbreaking fashion after the Melbourne Rebels defied their reputation as Australian rugby’s biggest chokers to sneak into the playoffs for the first time.
Needing only to beat the winless Western Force by four points to make the top three, the Rebels scored a converted try in the last minute to win 34-30 at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium.
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That was enough for the Rebels to make the finals for the first time in the club’s 10 year history, albeit by the barest of margins.
They finished the season level with the Waratahs on 19 competition points but advanced because their points difference over eight matches was +16, while NSW’s was +15.
“There’s a little bit of relief but I’m just really proud of the boys for the way we stuck at it,” Rebels captain Dane Haylett-Petty said.
“Credit to the Force, for a long period in that game they were on top of us so obviously it was a great effort to have to fight back and score that try.”
The Rebels will fly to Brisbane to face the Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium next Saturday with the winner to meet the Brumbies in the grand final in Canberra on September 19. The season is now over for the Force and the Waratahs.
“We weren’t able to be masters of our own destiny and when you put yourself in that situation and rely on others, it’s frustrating,” NSW coach Rob Penney said.
“There’s been lots of little twists and turns along the way and obviously we just weren’t up to getting in that top three.”
After blowing a 12-point lead late in the first half and bombing two tries, the Rebels found themselves trailing 30-20 with 20 minutes left on the clock.
With a track record of coming up short when it counts, the Rebels were once again looking right down the barrel at another humiliating end to the season, when things suddenly turned around.
“This is a big moment for the club, it means a lot to people,” Rebels coach Dave Wessels said.
“To be honest, I thought that a place in the playoffs ... was cursed when we were leading well at halftime then fell in a big hole.
“I’m super proud of the guys for fighting out of that, there’s a mental hurdle in that for some of the players that we’ve now got over.”
Haylett-Petty finished off a brilliant counter attack with a try to cut the margin to three points, then in the final minute, replacement prop Cabous Eloff was awarded a try next to the posts by the TMO after reserve hooker Efi ma’afu had missed the line by centimetres when he planted it down.
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Matt Toomua calmly added the conversion after the hooter to seal his team’s place in the finals of a unpredictable domestic competition which has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
“It was just another Rebels-Force nailbiter,” Haylett-Petty said.
“In the last 10 years they’ve all gone down to the wire and this was just another great game,
“We’re really proud but from that game we’ve got a lot to build on and work on if we’re going to win next week so it’s exciting for us but we’ve got to be better next week.”
The Waratahs were left to rue the small things that went wrong.
They beat the Rebels 38-32 last weekend but gave up a late penalty which Toomua kicked to earn his team a bonus point that proved decisive in the final wash up.
“Credit to both sides, it was a great contest and the Western Force deserve a lot of praise,” Penney said,
“They were desperately keen to prove that they were up to this competition and wanted to have a win and they didn’t roll over like a few people predicted they would.
“They made it tough but the Rebels just had too much experience in the end and just finished over the top with a couple of game management decisions that they took and did well.”