The Melbourne Rebels end a four-year drought in Sydney
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Wallaby flyhalf Matt To'omua maintained a perfect record from the tee on Friday slotting five penalties and two conversions to see the Melbourne Rebels to a 29-10 victory over the Waratahs in Sydney.
The Rebels went into the game after a week of criticism in the media but silenced their critics holding the Waratahs scoreless in the second half as Marika Koroibete raced through the Waratahs defence in the final moments of the game to seal the 24-10 victory - their first win in Sydney since 2016.
The win was also the Rebels first in Super Rugby AU with the Melbourne side having lost and drawn their two opening fixtures.
The Rebels punished the Waratahs' ill-discipline throughout the encounter with the Waratahs' only try coming from a well-read interception from winger Alex Newsome.
π Nobby takes a nibble, goes in untouched.#WARvREB#fortheloveofrugbyππ pic.twitter.com/w5YG9B6kIu
— NSW Waratahs (@NSWWaratahs) July 24, 2020
The conversion and later penalty from Will Harrison would be the only contributions the Waratahs made to the scoreline with To'omua landing four penalties and converted Ryan Louwerens' try to give the Rebels a 10-19 lead at half time.
A cagey second half saw just 10 points being scored with Andrew Deegan missing a relatively straight forward penalty and Marika Koroibete darting through the defence and delivering a monster handoff to Alex Newsome to dot down under the sticks with To'omua adding the extras.
The Waratahs will roe their discipline with both Michael Hooper and Jed Holloway visiting the sin bin for ten minutes, both of which for an accumulation of team infringements.
The Rebels next face the Western Force on the road while the Waratahs will look to reset with a bye in round four.