May 06, 2011
| Both the Rebels and the Reds will be keen for a win after slipping up with defeats in their Super Rugby fixtures last week. The Rebels came short when they lost 28-9 to the Waratahs in Sydney and the Reds went down 28-26 to the Hurricanes in Wellington. After two losses on the road, the Rebels will be happy to return to their home ground. Apart from the defeat to the Waratahs last week they also went down 40-23 to the Blues in Auckland a week earlier. The Melbourne side have surprised all and sundry by being competitive this season and the Reds can expect a far tougher encounter than their 53-3 win in Brisbane in Round Five of the competition as Rebels coach Rod MacQueen is a shrewd tactician, who will not make the same mistakes again. It's been an eventful week for the Melbourne side with England international fly-half Danny Cipriani and utility back Richard Kingi both suspended from the clash against the Reds due to disciplinary issues. MacQueen will once again rely heavily on experienced Wallabies like captain Stirling Mortlock, Julian Huxley and Mark Gerrard in the backline and former All Black front-ranker Greg Somerville among the forwards. The Reds have been in fine form for most of the competition and were unlucky to go down to a last-minute penalty by Hurricanes fly-half Aaron Cruden. If they had won that match it would have been their eighth successive victory and they would have been on top of the overall points table. The Reds' success has come largely because of a dominant set of forwards and the fine performances of their halfback pairing, Will Genia and Quade Cooper. The duo have been combined well for the Reds and the Rebels will be eager to put them under pressure from the outset. However, it could be a long day at the office for the hosts if the Reds' pack takes control of proceedings and Genia and Cooper weave their magic. It is hard to know what to expect from the Rebels but it is probably safe to say that they will be a lot better than the last clash at 53-3 as they are at home in Melbourne where they have beaten the Brumbies and Hurricanes. The Bookies have given the Rebels a 14 point start for this match - with an offer of Bet 10 and Get 20. We think the Reds will win this and win it well to get back on track. The Reds should win by 20 at least. This match will be shown on the SkySports web site in the UK. Last result Fri, 18 Mar 2011 Rebels v Reds 3-53 Brisbane Rebels overall record against the Reds Played 1 , Wins 0 , Losses 1 , Draws 0 Match Officials Referees: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand) Assistant referees: Ian Smith (Australia), Simon Moore (Australia) Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia) Teams Rebels : 1. Greg Somerville , 2. Ged Robinson , 3. Laurie Weeks , 4. Alister Campbell , 5. Hugh Pyle , 6. Hoani Macdonald , 7. Michael Lipman , 8. Gareth Delve (vc) , 9. Nick Phipps , 10. James Hilgendorf , 11. Peter Betham , 12. Stirling Mortlock (c) , 13. Mark Gerrard , 14. Lachlan Mitchell , 15. Julian Huxley Reserves 16. Heath Tessmann , 17. Nic Henderson , 18. Adam Byrnes , 19 , Tim Davidson , 20. Sam Cordingley , 21. Cooper Vuna , 22. Afusipa Taumoepeau Reds : 1. Ben Daley , 2. Saia Faingaa , 3. James Slipper , 4. Rob Simmons , 5. James Horwill (c) , 6. Scott Higginbotham , 7. Beau Robinson , 8. Radike Samo , 9. Will Genia , 10. Quade Cooper , 11. Digby Ioane , 12. Mike Harris , 13. Anthony Faingaa , 14. Luke Morahan , 15. Ben Lucas Reserves : 16. James Hanson , 17. Greg Holmes , 18. Adam Wallace-Harrison , 19. Leroy Houston , 20. Jake Schatz , 21. Will Chambers , 22. Dom Shipperley |
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