Injuries-free Rebels delight Macqueen - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Injuries-free Rebels delight Macqueen

Melissa Woods 26/03/2011 03:45:42 PM Comments (0)

No injuries. Those two words made Melbourne coach Rod Macqueen's night after his Rebels trounced the Hurricanes in their Super Rugby clash.

Macqueen was delighted to see the side rebound from a 50-point thrashing by Queensland to overrun the Wellington side 42-25 on Friday night.

With the casualty ward already brimming with six likely starters sidelined, the news that his players had come through the AAMI Park match unscathed made the win even sweeter.

After winning two matches from four at home, and only narrowly missing a third against the competition front-running Sharks, the next mission for the Rebels is to win away, with the Western Force in their sights.

"We've talked about consistency and it's easy to say the word but that's what it's about," Macqueen said.

"Next week we've got to front up again, it's a very tough competition.

"We're hoping to get a few players back and that will make a big difference for us."

Macqueen rated the performance by the forwards as the best of the season, but flanker Michael Lipman said the backs deserved equal credit.

"The whole team performed a lot better but still I think there's a lot more to come," Lipman said.

"That win proved that the home win against the Brumbies wasn't a fluke but the real challenge is trying to win away from home."

England-born Australian-raised Lipman has played 10 Tests for England and is somewhat of a tutor for fellow flanker South African-born Jarrod Saffy.

Saffy, 26, returned to his schoolboy code after a successful stint in rugby league, winning last year's NRL premiership with St George Illawarra, and is impressing with his huge work-rate.

The pair are forming a formidable combination.

"It's been hard for him switching codes and getting back into the swing of things with union," 31-year-old Lipman said.

"He's adapted very well and there are aspects of his game that are quite outstanding.

"We feed off each other a littlebit and push each other as much as we can."

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