Round 7 of the 2023 Super Rugby Season during the Easter long weekend ends here at AAMI Park with the Game of the Round between the Melbourne Rebels & Auckland Blues. The first half belongs to the home team with a excellent start through 1-2 early tries on the board at 17-13, while Blues were not far behind even though they were shakey in between at times. But the overall game ended up by the visitors, having regained the lead once again before the Blues pulled away with a comfortably win in the end at 17-54.
It’s not been the night Rebels wanted to see out with another loss against their name. They actually fired off not bad with a three-point penalty goal followed by a series of fightbacks & big scores throughout the opening 40, particularly with the help of reserve hooker Jordan Uelese from the bench following Alex Mafi’s injury. But then Uelese sadly suffered an injury himself, even though he had to play with the pain on one knee for a bit that helped push his side past the Blues again at HT. Just unlucky really as the game could’ve been theirs if it wasn’t for injuries when the Rebels didn’t score at all in the 2nd half while suffering a mix of ill-discipline & poor defense at the same time. They now got a week-long rest now before another tough game against the Crusaders in two weeks time (Fri 21 April).
Meanwhile, it’s good to see The Blues return to winning ways following their defeat last Saturday v The Chiefs in Waikato. Yes, they may have got away with a slow start where their first half performance was up and down through a mix of fightback & ill-discipline. However, they turned themselves around with so much attacking football where The Blues regained the lead once more & stayed there by scoring a few more tries before they were too good in the end. This is how the Auckland-based side should do from start to finish if they want to go one better & dethrone the Crusaders for the Super Rugby title in mid-June. For now, they’re at the halfway stage with a well-warned bye next week followed by a home game v Waratahs the week after (Sat 22 April).
