COACHES often say that their side’s performance is far more important than the end result.
But for new Melbourne Rebels coach Dave Wessels, the win for his side in its 45-19 mauling of the Queensland Reds was all that mattered after it notched just one Super Rugby victory in 2017.
“And if you include the NRC, where it also won just one game, over the last 18 months they’ve won just two games,” Wessels said.
“So to start the first game of the year with a new group and win it with the most-ever points scored by the Rebels, it’s something to celebrate.
“But to be honest most of our conversation in the dressing room now was how much we need to improve.
“This is an aspirational group and, we need to enjoy the win for sure, but we also realise the performance wasn’t perfect.
“But to be honest I would have accepted winning by half a point.”
Wessels said pre-match in a club function that he was nervous heading into his Rebels debut.
And the coach said those nerves didn’t subside throughout the match.
“I was nervous with about 10 minutes to go still,” he said.
“The analyst made the mistake of saying we’d won the game with 10 minutes to go and I think I nearly knocked him out. If he’d have jinxed us then he was gone.”
Asked his controversial 10th minute red card, Reds captain Scott Higginbotham said: “I was just going in for a tackle.
“A two-man tackle, one bloke goes low, one goes high. We practice that in pre-season, I’ve been doing it for 12 years.”
