Effort and emotion keys to Rebels victory

Apr 15, 2017 - 5:18 PM Melbourne Rebels coach Tony McGahan praised his side's ability to remain focused on their on-field performance in trying circumstances, after recording their first victory of the season.

Winless after seven rounds and facing an uncertain future in Super Rugby, the Rebels came from behind to secure a scrappy 19-17 win over the ACT Brumbies on Saturday night.

Behind on the scoreboard with three minutes left to play, the Rebels' forward pack stunned the Australian conference leaders by winning a scrum penalty that allowed Reece Hodge to kick the winning goal, much to the delight of the small but vocal crowd at AAMI Park.

"We were celebrating a bit hard for a regular season win," captain Nic Stirzaker said after the match.

"We'd been close the last two home games where we'd put ourselves in a position to win and didn't get it."

"I think we've been building to that result and I'm really, really ecstatic to get it tonight."

Melbourne prop Laurie Weeks made his 100th Super Rugby appearance, having played 23 games with the Queensland Reds before becoming a Rebels foundation player in 2011.

While the future of the Melbourne franchise was a major topic of discussion leading into the Brumbies clash, McGahan felt that overcoming a long injury list and a lack of on-field results provided the catalyst for the win rather than responding to events unfolding outside the club.

"The other things on the side continue to materialise and those things certainly don't help," McGahan said.

"We haven't made a big song and dance about it, we just need to get on with it because the only thing you can do is play."

The Brumbies failed to capitalise on several Rebels spending ten minutes off the field and McGahan is hopeful his players can stay aggressive and push the boundaries.

"Yeah, it's huge and the players involved certainly know that," he said. "It's certainly not what we want to be doing."

"We need to make sure we reel that in and we need to make sure more importantly that we back this effort and this emotion up."

"We need to make sure we carry it through for the next seven games."

The Rebels head to South Africa on Monday for upcoming matches against the Sharks and Kings with the franchise still seeking their first win on South African soil.

Source: AAP