No Will Genia but Jack Debreczeni confident Rebels can beat Bulls
Jack Debreczeni is confident he can steer the Melbourne Rebels successfully without Will Genia by his side.
Melbourne coach Dave Wessels believes the Bulls are slowly clawing their way back to superpower status but if the Rebels are to achieve their potential this season, they will have to register their first win in the republic over them tonight in Pretoria.
Under former All Blacks coach John Mitchell, the Bulls have abandoned their time-honoured power game to become one of the most entertaining of Super Rugby teams and with wins over the Stormers and Sharks at their past two outings they will come out tonight at Loftus Versfeld brimming with confidence.
The Rebels need to stop their rot after successive defeats.
Wessels said: “Over the past 10 years, the Bulls have been the major power in SA rugby and while they’ve probably slipped away in the last two or three years, the way they are playing at present has been very impressive.
“I certainly think we can win but we’ll have to play really well. We need to start well and retain that pressure.”
The Rebels started well against the Jaguares last week but lost intensity and a winnable match slipped away.
The Rebels have twice beaten the Sunwolves in Japan but their foreign record is otherwise appalling. They have won just one match out of 15 in New Zealand, against the Crusaders, and are winless in 13 matches in South Africa.
Wessels has picked an imposing forward pack. Ross Haylett-Petty gives them 118kg on the side of the scrum at blindside flanker and Reece Hodge and Tom English in the centres give them a solid buttress against the formidable midfield of Bulls captain Burger Odendaal and Jesse Kriel.
The question is whether five-eighth Jack Debreczeni can cope with the loss of Will Genia to steer the Rebels around the park in company with Michael Ruru, who has been waiting for this chance.
“I’m confident in the team we’ve got and my partnership with Ru to steer the team around with Dane (Haylett-Petty) at the back” Debreczeni said.
“Hopefully we’ll come out with a good performance.’’
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