Extraordinary comeback puts Melbourne Rebels in first ever Super Rugby finals

After staging the most extraordinary of comebacks against Western Force, the Melbourne Rebels have made it into the Super Rugby finals for the first time.

Matt Toomua of the Melbourne Rebels is tackled during the round 10 Super Rugby match against Western Force at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images

The Melbourne Rebels will never forget the day they made the Super Rugby finals for the first time, not after staging the most extraordinary of comebacks to finally overhaul a desperately unlucky Western Force after the final hooter at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium today.

Trailing by 30-27 with less than a minute on the clock and needing to win by at least four points to secure a place in the three-team play-offs, the Rebels astonishingly got home because referee Angus Gardner was as gobsmacked as any spectator and forgot to blow his whistle as replacement hooker Eli Ma’afu looked to have scored the winning try. He hadn’t, however, and as Gardner scrambled to get into a better position to check whether he had made a grounding, the ball came back and reserve prop Jaquobus Eloff had the presence of mind to grab it and place it over the line.

Even then the television match official (TMO) James Leckie was concentrating on what everyone thought was the winning try. It was only when it became apparent that he appeared to have been stopped short of the line that Gardner remarked that he had not blown the whistle, which meant the ball was still live when Eloff grabbed it for his history-making moment. Acting captain Matt To’omua still had to kick the final conversion and he showed all his experience by using the full 60 seconds at his disposal, letting the clock tick over into the 80th minute before ramming home the easy goal for a 34-30 victory. Four points was the required margin and four points it was.

Western Force’s Kyle Godwin is tackled by the Melbourne. Picture: Getty Images

Twice in the last two years the Rebels have been denied a finals spot by last round dramas but finally things fell for coach Dave Wessels – who was so nervous he could scarcely bring himself to watch the unfolding drama, pacing around the coach’s box – and his team.

But spare a thought for the Force who at one stage trailed 20-8 but then turned on an epic display of Brumbies-like rugby to score twice from their lineout driving maul with flanker Brynard Stander also plunging over for a third try in his 50th match for the club to open up a 30-20 lead with only 23 minutes of play remaining.

Like the Rebels, the Force has been on the road for every match of this Super Rugby AU competition, never once having the luxury of playing in front of their own home crowd. And while they might have been training for their Global Rapid Rugby season, when they suddenly were called into this domestic Super Rugby contest, they had barely a month to bolster their roster and refine their game. It was an extraordinary performance from coach Tim Sampson and, as he said only two days ago, his players deserved to win this one. Had they done so, it would have been their first Super Rugby AU victory.

It wasn’t just the Force who were left heartbroken as a result of the Rebels’ victory. Had Melbourne lost or won by three points or less, the Waratahs would have lived to fight another day. Coach Rob Penney was watching on desperately willing the Force hang on but when Eloff scored right on the bell, it summed up the NSW season.

“We weren’t able to be masters of our own destiny and when you put yourself in that situation, relying on others, it’s frustrating,” Penney said. “There were lots of little twists and turns along the way. We weren’t up to getting in that top three.

“Credit to both sides. It was a great contest and the Western Force boys deserve a lot of praise. They were desperately keen to prove they were up for 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 had too much experience and finished over the top with a couple of critical game management decisions. They did well.”

Marika Koroibete makes a break. Picture: Getty Images

It was captain Dane Haylett — Petty who set the comeback ball in motion, collecting a clearance from Kyle Godwin and linking with fellow Wallabies Marika Koriobete and Reece Hodge on the right-hand side before finally receiving a return pass from Koriobete to strike back for the Rebels less than two minutes after Standers’ try. That made it 30-27 and from there it all went the Rebels way, with Force winger Bryon Ralston yellow carded for taking out Matt Philips in the air from the ensuing kick-off and then flanker Fergus Lee-Warner was sin binned for a deliberate foul as the Rebels pounded the Force line.

Try as they might however, they could not get over. Philip was almost over in the 79th minute but the TMO detected a Force arm under the ball, holding him up. Still, the Rebels were under penalty advantage and able to keep relentlessly building the pressure.

Ultimately it all came down to the final minute and the fact that Gardner, for some reason, didn’t blow his whistle in all the excitement to check whether Ma’afu had scored. That he didn’t made all the difference.

“For a long period in the game they were on top of us,” said Haylett-Petty. “They have played really well in this competition. Both times we played them it has gone right down to the wire. (In the first round, the two teams finished tied but the game went into Supertime for the first occasion and number eight Isi Naisarani finally scored to seal the deal for the Rebels). This was just another Rebels-Force thriller.”

His Force counterpart, Ian Prior, understandably looked dumbfounded that victory had slipped away when it was within touching distance. “I’m really proud of the group and the gutsy effort they put up. Hopefully it has made our fans back in WA proud.”