Tears among the Rebels players have signalled the end for Melbourne, whose place in Super Rugby Pacific was brought to a close by a quarter-final loss to the Hurricanes. The Rebels were given almost no chance of upsetting the table-topping Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday, but held them to an eight-point margin at half-time on the back of some desperate defence. That took its toll, with the home side piling on five second-half tries to post a 47-20 victory.
They became the first team this season to stop the Hurricanes scoring a try in the opening 20 minutes, twice holding the home side up over the line. But the Rebels’ 3-0 lead evaporated four minutes later when prop Pasilio Tosi barrelled over. Another Rebels penalty closed the gap to 7-6, but Gordon twice failed to find touch with clearing kicks and the Hurricanes went into halftime up 14-6 after centre Joshua Moorby found a hole to score in the 39th minute.