Melbourne have been blasted off the park in a frantic opening 40 minutes, falling to Fijian Drua 38-28 of their Tremendous Rugby Pacific conflict in Suva.
The Rebels’ mantra of taking part in “quick and fearless” was thrown again of their face by a rampant residence facet who ran in 5 tries in 28 minutes to guide 33-7 by halftime with the scoreboard spinning quicker than the clock.
The tries had been shared throughout 5 gamers, with the offload recreation of blindside flanker Vilive Miramira, who grabbed their third, inflicting havoc for the guests.
In entrance of a raucous residence crowd at HFC Stadium they posed threats throughout the park with the Rebels always back-peddling.
It was Drua’s second residence win, additionally claiming the scalp of the powerhouse Crusaders in Nadi in spherical three.
Melbourne stunningly had 61 per cent of territory within the first half and likewise dominated possession however solely had one attempt to present for it, with hooker Alex Mafi burrowing throughout within the 21st minute.
Rebels coach Kevin Foote made the adjustments early, bringing Wallabies again Andrew Kellaway into the match after halftime for his first match of the season resulting from a foot damage.
Kellaway made a direct influence, scoring within the 41st minute, whereas he was assured in utilizing his kicking recreation to enhance Melbourne’s area place.
Some warmth went out of the house facet’s recreation whereas the Rebels, coming off a gritty win over Queensland, began to seek out their groove.
However the Drua continued to take advantage of their alternatives.
Realizing the Rebels had no-one at fullback, No.9 Peni Matawalu chipped over the line of defense with former Sevens star Elia Canakaivata in a position to collect up the ball and crash over the road.
Though a win was out of attain, Melbourne improved the scoreline with two additional tries to at the very least take the second half.
Younger Melbourne playmaker Carter Gordon ran on to a Brad Wilkin move to cross within the 65th minute whereas World Cup hopeful Pone Fa’amausili rolled over with two minutes remaining.
