Rampant Brumbies no match for Rebels

The Brumbies made it 10 wins on the trot at home by beating the Rebels 39-26 in Canberra on Friday, compounding the Melbourne team's miserable start to the season after a shock 36-27 defeat against Japan's Sunwolves in Fukuoka last weekend.

Rebels coach Dave Wessels reshaped his forwards pack after crashing to the Sunwolves, but it was no match for a Brumbies team that came out firing.

"I'm proud of the effort, especially how we started in the first half," said Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa after the six tries to four win. "They're a quality side and we knew they would fight back."

The Brumbies make it ten wins in a row at home and two wins from two in the 2020 Vodacom #SuperRugby season with a Aussie derby victory over the Rebels. pic.twitter.com/NOiqWj5QdC

— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) February 7, 2020

The Brumbies had a try after just four minutes with inside centre Irae Simone throwing a dummy to power over. And they kept pressing as the Rebels' defence struggled, with Tom Banks also touching down after a beautiful offload from youngster Noah Lolesio, who converted both tries.

Tom Cusack got their third try and Solomone Kata grabbed his first in Super Rugby minutes later after a grubber kick bounced favourably.

The Rebels, who had won their last four matches against the Brumbies, lifted in the final five minutes of the first-half, which saw Angus Cottrell dot down and Matt Toomua convert to give them some hope going into the break 24-7 behind.

They returned invigorated, with a maul pushing Cottrell over for another try a minute after the restart before Folau Fainga'a barged over to restore the Brumbies' advantage.

Wallabies fullback Dane Haylett-Petty weaved past three defenders to put more points on the board for the Rebels and Frank Lomani also crossed, but it wasn't enough to make up the deficit.

"We showed heart but you can't start like that in a competition this good," said Rebels captain Haylett-Petty. "They just grinded us down. We were just sloppy."