Fijian flyer Filipo Daugunu scored a try in the closing stage as Melbourne Rebels edged out the Waratahs 27-21 in Round 6 of Super Rugby Pacific at Allianz Stadium last night.
Daugunu not only scored the match-sealing try, but helped set one up earlier with a barnstorming run.
This is the third win for the Rebels in six matches as they move to the sixth place in the table while Waratahs with a fourth successive defeat have slipped to the 10th place.
Waratahs went into the attack early but stern defence from Rebels kept them away from scoring.
The first points eventually came in the 22nd minute when Ryan Louwrens offloaded for Lachie Anderson to touchdown and Carter Gordon kicked the conversion to make it 7-0.
The Waratahs almost responded straight away with a rolling maul try but it was ruled held up but eventually the scores were levelled in the 30th minute as prop Tom Ross sent a pass for Lachlan Swinton to score.
They almost scored their second try in the restart as Dylan Pietsch looked dangerous but a try saving tackle from Gordon meant the teams remain unseparated.
The 33rd minute saw Hugh Sinclair sin-binned for dangerous head contact with Anderson and Gordon kicked a straightforward penalty goal to put Rebels in front by three points at the end of the opening half.
The trend continued in the second half with both the teams looking for early advantage which did not happen until the 59th minute when towering Fijian Langi Gleeson charged on a short pass from Jack Grant to touchdown for their second try and Edmed’s conversion made it 14-10.
Rebels clawed their way back into the game with further tries from Darby Lancaster and Taniela Tupou making it 14-22 by the 74th minute before Will Harrison set up Grant to help Waratahs narrow down the gap to one point.
While Waratahs did not have any further breakthroughs, Rebels secured the bonus point victory with Daugunu diving over in the final minute.
