Super Rugby: Reece stars as Rebels take the force out West
By AFP
Last Updated: 02/03/16 1:21pm
Reece Hodge produced a two-try Super Rugby debut to help Melbourne Rebels beat Western Force 25-19 in Perth.
The former Australian under-20 centre, who was recruited from the Manly Marlins, could scarcely have been more impressive in his first game, running in two tries and registering two penalties, plus two conversions for a 20-point personal haul.
It was Hodge who opened the scoring with a huge penalty in the third minute before Force levelled matters in the 10th, when new recruit and former Waratah Jono Lance replied with a penalty.
Lance scored all of Force's points, including a first-half try and he went tit-for-tat with Hodge for most of the match.
A Timati Ellison break enabled Hodge to score the first try of the contest in the 30th minute and his conversion of Adam Thompson's score was a superb effort from the sideline on the stroke of half-time. This gave the Rebels a 17-13 advantage at the break.
An while Jono Lance touched down in the first-half and kept Western Force ticking over with penalties, the Rebels were able to hang on with Ellison and Hodge combining again for the latter to score late on.
It was a big win for the Rebels, who lost fly-half Jack Debreczeni just before the match and then replacement Mike Harris limped off with a hamstring problem, forcing Hodge to play three positions before the first-half of his debut was over.
"I couldn't be more proud of the boys," said Rebels' skipper Sean McMahon. "They gutsed it out, the heat here really put us in a bad way there for a while."
