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The Melbourne Rebels' nightmare start to the Super Rugby season has continued with a humiliating 71-6 loss to defending champions the Hurricanes in Wellington.
The Rebels were unable to get across the try line while the home side seemingly scored at will, touching down 11 times.
Following a heavy 56-18 loss to the Blues at home last Thursday night, Melbourne has now conceded 127 points in the opening two rounds in their worst possible start.
Rebels captain Nic Stirzaker said there was little to like about his team's showing.
"It was a pretty bad performance in all facets of the game - set piece, turnover attack and just about everything," Stirzaker said.
"That transition off turnovers; they caught us early and once they got a couple of tries their tails were up and it was all over from there."
After an embarrassing opening defeat to the Blues, the Rebels vowed to deliver an improved performance.
For the first 15 minutes they were true to their word, dominating play and taking a 6-0 lead through two penalty kicks by centre Reece Hodge — one from 50m out.
But the sleepy Hurricanes, led by 2016 IRB player of the year Beauden Barrett, soon came to life.
By half time the home side turned the six-point deficit into a 31-6 lead, scoring five tries.
Playing his first Super Rugby match in 12 months following shoulder surgery, All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Barrett worked a play from a five-metre lineout and drew the defence before he turned the ball back inside to his charging fullback.
Milner-Skudder finished the match with a hat-trick, collecting a further two tries in the final 10 minutes.
Winger Vince Aso also scored twice in the opening half with his second particularly painful for the Rebels, who turned down a penalty goal from straight in front and then turned over the ball two minutes later with Aso making an 80m dash to the line.
In the second half the scoreboard continued to tick over with the Hurricanes making the Rebels pay each time they coughed up possession.
The Brumbies have suffered a heart-breaking Super Rugby defeat with the Sharks scoring a try after the siren to snatch a 27-22 win in Canberra.
Sharks centre Lukhnayo Am pounced on a kick after 81 minutes to stun the majority of the about 8000 fans at GIO Stadium on Saturday night.
Only a few minutes earlier with the scores level, replacement Brumbies flyhalf Isaac Thompson attempted a 40m drop-goal that missed to the left.
The Brumbies had clawed their way back to tie the game up with 10 minutes remaining when Wallabies centre Tevita Kuridrani, who struggled to have a major influence, got on the end of three quick passes to cross next to the post to bring them within two.
Wharenui Hawera converted to level the scores.
The home side got out to a 15-3 lead after half an hour thanks to tries from Henry Speight and Josh Mann-Rea and a penalty goal from Hawera.
Speight crossed courtesy of a perfect long pass from Kyle Godwin while Mann-Rea drove over the tryline to score.
The Sharks then piled on 19 unanswered points as they capitalised on the Brumbies' poor discipline.
Tendai Mtawarira started the Sharks' comeback with a 35th-minute try, while flyhalf Pat Lambie made them pay for giving away too many penalties.
They grabbed the lead for the first time just before halftime and carried that momentum into the second half where they dominated the majority of the term.
Lambie nailed the fifth of his seven penalty attempts to open up a 22-15 advantage while Brumbies centre Kyle Godwin was in the sin bin for a professional foul.
The Brumbies remain winless after their opening-round defeat to the Crusaders and their next chance to open their account will be in Canberra on Friday night against the Western Force.
Topics: super-rugby, rugby-union, sport, new-zealand, melbourne-3000, canberra-2600, act, australia
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