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| - Melbourne Rebels celebrated their long-awaited homecoming in style Friday with a crushing 33-14 victory over winless NSW Waratahs, whose Super Rugby AU finals hopes are in disarray. Inspired by a virtuoso first-half performance from captain Matt Toomua, the Rebels notched their second straight victory after starting the season with two agonising defeats. Due to Covid-19 outbreaks in Melbourne, the Rebels did not play at AAMI Stadium during last year's Super Rugby AU debut season and had spent the early part of the current campaign on the road. "Pretty special to have the fans behind us, hopefully they can be proud of this performance," said star Rebels player Reece Hodge. "We are building each week and hopefully we can trend upwards for the backend of the season." The Waratahs' horror season continued in round five as they dropped their fourth straight game to remain bottom of the five-team ladder at the season's halfway point and all but end their hopes for finals, where only the top three teams qualify. "They were good enough to capitalise on our errors and our discipline wasn't up to scratch," Waratahs stand-in captain Alex Newsome said. The Rebels had been criticised for implementing a conservative style of play in the early rounds, but showcased plenty of dash in the one-sided contest. Their hardnosed approach, however, was in full force as they held the Waratahs scoreless in a commanding first-half. After 377 days of not being able to watch their heroes in person, a pumped-up crowd were vocal early with Toomua converting a penalty kick after seven minutes. Moments later, the Rebels' dominance was rewarded with the game's first try after Lachlan Anderson finished off a sizzling off-load from Tom Pincus in the left corner. The rattled Waratahs desperately needed to hit the scoreboard, but Jack Maddocks sprayed a penalty kick to continue their woes. Handling errors cruelled promising Waratahs attacks and the well-drilled Rebels made them pay with the accurate boot of Toomua stretching the home team's lead by 16 points. Toomua's spectacular performance continued when he produced a brilliant solo try as the Rebels' 23-point advantage was their biggest ever half-time lead. Kick-starting four straight home games, the Rebels added one more try in the second-half to maintain striking distance on the ladder with competition frontrunners Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies. But they were denied a bonus point when the Waratahs finally broke their drought in the dying moments with two late tries. tl/je
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