Lock Seru Uru was a stand-out, claiming two first-half tries as the Reds ran the Rebels ragged at the breakdown.

It was a particularly gutsy effort for the Queenslanders, who had a short turn-around after their rousing victory over competition heavyweights the Chiefs last round.

The Rebels were disappointing in the first half, with their highly rated forward pack, led by ex-Red Taniela Tupou, failing to match the pace of their opponents, with coach Kevin Foote making early changes.

Melbourne started the second half in better shape and were first on the scoreboard as they started to move the ball and reduce their errors.

They scored two tries, through winger Glen Vaihu and reserve prop Isaac Aedo Kailea, in the space of five minutes to close the gap to 33-19.

But their comeback was snuffed out when Vaihu gifted the Reds a try.

Stopping the ball going over the sideline, he threw it back inside - straight into the hands of Queensland centre Josh Flook, who strolled to the tryline.

The Rebels added another try through Tuaina Taii Tualima, but momentum was all the Reds’ way.

They pushed past the half-century through reserve hooker Josh Nasser and Flook, who added a second to wrap up a comprehensive win.

Melbourne skipper Rob Leota said his team failed to execute their game plan and paid the price.

“We were passive on defence and the coaches did a really good job to set us up well and we just weren’t there in the first half, and we’ve got to be better against a good team like the Reds,” he said.

“That’s on us, to be able to deliver on the game plan.”

Force coach Cron apologises for ‘worst ever’ display

Western Force coach Simon Cron has apologised to the club’s loyal fans after his team produced some of the “worst rugby” he’s ever seen.

The Force slumped to a 0-4 record after crashing to a 22-14 Super Rugby Pacific loss to Moana Pasifika in Perth on Saturday night.

The defeat left the Force eight points adrift of eighth spot and facing a huge battle to make the finals.

Cron was left fuming by the error-riddle display against Moana, saying his players reverted to “club rugby heroics” at times.

“Firstly, I think we’ve got to apologise to our supporters and fans because that’s some of worst rugby I’ve ever seen,” Cron said.

“We were horrendous tonight and there’s nothing pretty about it.

“Like the first 10 minutes we could have scored three tries and we didn’t.

“We had opportunities to [score] and then we started to put our head down a little bit and knocked the ball on. We went out to club rugby heroics.

“Every time we made a line break, somebody tried to throw a miracle ball and gave it straight back again.”

Cron was left bewildered by some of the simple mistakes his team made, including on the discipline front.

“We still gave away too many penalties. Today was not a good example of rugby by us, end of story,” Cron said.

“We went into a ruck and we kicked the ball out and it’s like, ‘oh my God, we’ve got a coach that now?’ Like, ‘we’ve got to cover that again?’”

The Force played far better in recent losses to the Rebels and Brumbies, despite giving up big leads in each of those games.

And although there were plenty of fumbles against Moana, the Force were within five points of their opponents before substitute flyhalf William Havili nailed a 53m penalty with eight minutes to go to seal victory for the visitors.

The Force will be aiming to bounce back when they host the in-form Queensland Reds next week Saturday, before facing off against Fijian Drua, Blues, Crusaders, Highlanders and Chiefs in a tough run of fixtures.

Cron no doubt will have some intense talks with his players in the coming week.

“The first thing we do as coaches is sit down and work out how we can help the team to be better, because tonight would be our worst game this year,” Cron said.

“Last week [in a 22-19 loss to the Brumbies] we played really well. The week before that [in a 48-34 loss to the Rebels], the first 10 minutes was good rugby. Today, very hard to see the good out of it.”

Cron said it was important for his players to be mentally tougher when things aren’t going their way.

Star Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White missed the loss to Moana with knee swelling and is no guarantee to return against the Reds.

– AAP