Perth Spirit shock Melbourne Rising 45-29 to book spot in NRC grand final against Brisbane City
PERTH Spirit have shocked Melbourne Rising 45-29 to book an NRC grand final clash with Brisbane City. WATCH ALL 10 TRIES.
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MELBOURNE Rising’s season is over after it was humbled by Perth Spirit in a massive boilover at AAMI Park.
Rising were the raging favourites and came into the National Rugby Championship semi-final on the back of eight consecutive wins.
The side’s first loss of the season came at the worst possible time with Perth scoring a convincing 45-29 victory.
The loss of Tom English, Sean McMahon and Luke Jones to the Wallabies proved telling with Spirit pouncing to win through to next week’s grand final against Brisbane City at Ballymore.
The Perth team that contained 11 Western Force players controlled the match and ran in six tries to Melbourne’s four.
Melbourne produced a late surge but it would prove not enough..
“I thought we were a chance (late in the match) as the NRC has been a bit like that this season,” Rising skipper Nic Stirzaker said.
“It’s very unpredictable and you can score from anywhere, so there was some hope there.
“Unfortunately it just wasn’t to be for us today.”
There were no early signs that Melbourne was about to produce its worst performance of the season.
It had Perth on the back foot almost immediately, forcing a penalty in the first minute.
The home side had a number of opportunities to post the opening try but Perth’s defence was solid.
The West Australians weathered the storm and then it was Melbourne’s turn to defend grimly in what was a tight start to the match.
Perth struck the first blow through winger Marcel Brache, who scored after jumping on a clever grubber kick from fullback Dane Haylett-Petty.
It got worse for Rising a minute later when Brache struck again, pouncing on a bad pass to score Perth’s second try.
Rising immediately hit back through vice-captain Mitch Inman.
The inside centre exploded through a gaping hole to score Melbourne’s first try when the side badly needed it.
Melbourne trailed by five points at half-time.
The margin again ballooned to 13 points early in the second half when Perth prop Oli Hoskins barged his way over for the Spirit’s third try.
It looked like the game was getting away from Melbourne when Rising fullback Jonah Placid produced a bit of magic.
The 19-year-old rising star, who is signed to the Melbourne Rebels, beat six players to help his side close the gap.
Perth then inflicted a massive blow when outside centre Ammon Matuauto scored to again help the visitors to a 13-point buffer with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Captain Sam Wykes then sealed the match when he scored to make it a near impossible task for Melbourne.
Winger Sefanaia Naivalu and Jack Debreczeni scored late tries for Melbourne but the clock beat them.
PERTH SPIRIT 45 (Brache 2, Matuauto 2, Hoskins, Wykes tries; Holmes 5 conv)
MELBOURNE RISING 29 (Inman, Placid, Naivalu, Debreczeni tries; Debreczeni 3 conv)
Replay all the action from the Rising v Spirit NRC semi-final in our match blog below.
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