It took an incredible second-half fightback for the Melbourne Rebels to clinch a 48-34 shootout over the Western Force at Super Round.
Fans at AAMI Park were treated to an 11-try spectacle with Filipo Daugunu and Carter Gordon bagging doubles for the hosts in a much-needed win.
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So what did we learn?
The Force and Rebels were barely recognisable from their Round 1 selves in a thrilling derby encounter.
There were fireworks from the get-go with two tries inside the opening 10 minutes and six tries in the opening half setting the Super Round crowd alight.
Even the five minutes of halftime overtime were quality with four scrum resets before the Rebels finally cracked a stubborn Force line on oranges.
The Westerners drew first blood in the second term and looked well in control at 34-19 after 50 minutes before the Rebels went bananas, scoring 29 points on the hop with Daugunu’s double a highlight.
Andrew Kellaway topped the run metres and carries in Melbourne’s Round 1 loss to the Brumbies and kept the ball rolling with another assured performance at fullback against the Force.
The 26-cap Wallaby gave Force winger Harry Potter first-half nightmares, skipping past him for a 7th minute score and leaving him grasping at air again down the left touchline before halftime.
Those back-to-back performances will doubtless play on Joe Schmidt’s mind with the Wallabies coach officially on the job as of today (March 1).
The meeting of Australia’s incumbent flyhalves didn’t disappoint with Ben Donaldson and Carter Gordon going swing for swing in an entertaining affair.
Ben Donaldson was ice-cold off the tee, slotting his first six attempts on the spin, and was just as cool out of hand with crisp passing unlocking the Force backline, highlighted by a linebreak and try assist for Chase Tiatia.
Meanwhile Carter Gordon was a constant running threat, scoring his first try from close range before setting up Kellaway’s second try and poaching a runaway intercept from 80m for good measure.
Gordon’s goalkicking let him down with a botched shot in front shaking the sticks but the Melbourne Rebel still took the points from this bout and was rightly awarded Best on Ground by the Stan commentary team – bring on the rematch.
The Rebels lineout woes continued with four lost on their own throw to follow the five they coughed up against ACT Brumbies in Round 1.
But that was the only similarity with Melbourne pack’s performance chalk and cheese across the park at Super Round.
Up front, Alex Mafi was industrious in his first start of the year while Lukhan Salakai-Loto brough plenty of aggression to his carries.
Josh Canham also deserves mention for 80 tough minutes in the engine room – made all the more impressive by his silky pair of offloads for Josh Kemeny’s 53rd minute try.
Our thoughts are with Ryan Coxon and his family after the Force prop was stretchered off in a neck brace after 56 minutes.
It’s the second neck scare in as many weeks following Lalakai Foketi’s training accident with NSW.
A former Crusaders champion, Coxon was busy on debut for his new club, making 10 tackles and plenty of carries before leaving the paddock.
Good to see Coxon up and smiling with his teammates by the 70th minute but any concerns would leave Simon Cron with a huge prop-sized hole in his squad following an injury to Harry Hoopert and Marley Pearce’s four-game suspension.
