Rebels rout Tonga

[theforceguy]

The Melbourne Rebels made it two from two in their short history, following up their debut win against Tonga with a 54-0 victory against the same opponents at the Latrobe City Sports and Entertainment Centre in Morwell.

Another excellent crowd of 3,853 made the Rebels feel at home in Gippsland as the Rebelution continues to gather momentum.

Tries from Laurie Weeks, Jarrod Saffy, Tim Davidson, Afusipa Taumoepeau, Cooper Vuna (2), Nick Phipps and Chris Slade did the business. Extras were provided by the boots of Danny Cipriani, who kicked a perfect five conversions, and James Hilgendorf, who slotted through a pair of his three two-point attempts.

Head Coach, Rod Macqueen, was pleased with his side's performance, and development over the last week.

"We were looking to try a few different things, and a lot of those came off tonight. Overall, we're happy with the performance, considering it was the second trial," he said after the match.

After such a hard fought victory first time out, the Rebels had this game in the bag by half-time. In truth, the result was never in doubt once Laurie Weeks went over in the third minute and the 35-0 score at the main break should have been more.........

http://www.rugbyweek.com/news/article.asp?id=28469

[Rucking Good]

A good win for the Rebels but you have to put it into perspective in that they were playing a Tongan XV without any of their key players who are all in Europe. Bring them on against the Force this season and it will not be as sweet.