Rebels come from behind to beat Brumbies 29-26

Rebels 29-26 Brumbies, AAMI Park
Scorecard

Rebels made a stunning second-half comeback as they came from behind to beat Brumbies 29-26 in their Super Rugby encounter at AAMI Park on Saturday.

Rebels now are at the top of the Australian Conference with three wins from as many games while Brumbies are at the second place after losing three out of the four matches.

After both the teams failed to find early breakthroughs, Henry Speight showed brilliance when he dotted down just before the end of the first quarter while a conversion from Christian Leali'ifano provided a seven-point lead for Brumbies.

A 29th-minute penalty kick from Quade Cooper got Rebels off the mark and their campaign but their momentum was lost when Adam Coleman was sin-binned for repeated infringements following which Folau Fainga'a crossed over after a lineout drive.

In a bizarre closing stage of the first half, Marika Koroibete crashed in the corner in the 40th minute but a few moments later referee AJ Jacobs yellow-carded Matt Gibbon and to make things worse Brumbies were awarded a penalty try as the teams went into the second half with an 8-19 scoreline.

Rebels fought their way back when Jack Maddocks dived over the line in the 52nd minute and a conversion from Cooper made it 15-19 but his effort was negated when Rob Valetini crossed whitewash to restore the 11 point lead for the visitors.

Nevertheless, Rebels seized the final quarter with tries from Will Genia (65') and Maddocks (70') with Cooper converting both to complete a three-point win for the hosts.