Brumbies win Melbourne arm-wrestle
The Brumbies outscored their compatriots by five tries to three, to record a crucial win - as the June break draws ever nearer - a win that allowed the Brumbies to open a four-point lead over the Waratahs at the top of the conference.
The Brumbies proved more clinical in their execution than the Rebels, whose poor handling and conceding penalties cost them chances to put the Canberra-based side under more pressure.
The Rebels led 10-8 up until the 32nd minute, but the Brumbies went in at half-time ahead 20-10 and despite being pulled back to 25-22 midway through the second half clinched the game with a try by replacement wing Nigel Ah Wong with eight minutes remaining.
Only wayward goalkicking from Christian Lealiifano - with just two successes out of seven attempts - cost the Brumbies a bigger win over their Australian rivals.
The Brumbies scored tries through David Pocock, Rory Arnold, Christian Lealiifano, Scott Fardy and Ah Wong with Lealiifano landing a conversion and a penalty.
The Rebels looked promising at times and breached the Brumbies defence for three tries from Cam Crawford, Reece Hodge and Sefanaia Naivalu.
Jack Debreczeni landed two conversions and a penalty.
"We are very happy with the performance," Brumbies skipper Stephen Moore said.
"We knew it would be a tough game down here for us and the way the ladder was it was a very important game for us.
"The bench [replacements] came on and made a big difference for us in the second half."
The Rebels captain Nic Stirzaker said his team's ill-discipline cost them against the Brumbies.
"Our discipline really let us down and we let them into the game with easy penalties to get out of their half and they are really strong at the set-piece. They hurt us off the mauls," Stirzaker said.
The Brumbies have next week off while the Rebels travel to New Zealand to take on one of the tournament's leading teams the Chiefs.
Man of the match: Colby Fainga'a made a huge impact for the Rebels, even showing up David Pocock - who himself had a good game. Scott Fardy, as usual, got through a mountain of work. However, our award goes to the Brumbies South African prop Ruan Smith - who made a massive impact after coming on as a second-half replacement.
The scorers:
For the Rebels:
Tries: Crawford, Hodge, Naivalu
Cons: Debreczeni 2
Pen: Debreczeni
For the Brumbies:
Tries: Pocock, Arnold, Lealiifano, Fardy, Ah Wong
Con: Lealiifano
Pen: Lealiifano
Teams:
Melbourne Rebels: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Sefa Naivalu, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Cam Crawford, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Nic Stirzaker (captain), 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Sean McMahon, 6 Colby Fainga'a, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 James Hanson, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Pat Leafa, 17 Cruze Ah Nau, 18 Tim Metcher, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Jordy Reid, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Tom English, 23 Kotaro Matsushima.
Brumbies: 15 Aidan Toua, 14 Nigel Ah Wong, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Robbie Coleman, 11 James Dargaville, 10 Christian Lealiifano (co-captain), 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (co-captain), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Blake Enever, 21 Jordan Smiler, 22 Joe Powell, 23 Lausii Taliauli.
Referee: Rohan Hoffmann
Assistant referees: Will Houston, Michale Hogan
TMO: Ian Smith