Flyhalf Jack Debreczeni goes in for Melbourne Rising – Photo: Cam Inniss Photography

by Brendan Bradford –

The North Harbour Rays have lost a brilliant opening NRC match 55-34 to the Melbourne Rising in the perfect example of how the rule variations lead to high-tempo and high scoring rugby.

The final 21 point difference didn’t do justice to the Rays who clawed back a first half deficit to take a 26-21 lead at the break but couldn’t stay with the home-side whose replacements proved the difference in the final quarter.

The Rays were dominated at scrumtime against a more experienced Melbourne forward pack but in open play more than held their own. It wasn’t the most complete team performance but individual players stepped up and stood out. Norths backrower Michael Wells was everywhere, making tackles and metres in equal measure while Dave Porecki didn’t miss a beat in an earlier than expected debut from the bench.

Rats flyer Dave Feltscheer had limited opportunities but was dangerous with ball in hand and scored a superb try in the corner while Gordon centre Tom Mathews consistently made the gainline.

For the Rising, halves duo Nic Stirzaker and Jack Debreczeni were outstanding. The number nine made several telling darts around the scrum and breakdown while strong running Debreczeni always looked for an offload. Arguably the best player on ground though, was Lopeti Timani who made metres with every carry and was a brick wall on defence.

Melbourne hit the front after just five minutes as halfback Nic Stirzaker made half a break from a scrum on the 22 metre line and put winger Telusi Veainu away in the right corner. Former West Harbour flyhalf Jack Debreczeni nailed the sideline conversion for an 8-0 lead before another dominant Rising scrum set-up the second try five minutes later.

Michael Wells (Rays) gets up above Luke Jones (Rising) at the lineout – Photo: Cam Inniss Photography

This time it was Mitch Inman whose bustling run scattered the Rays midfield and created space on the right for centre Sefanaia Naivalu to score. Debreczeni couldn’t add the extras this time and Rising took a 13-0 lead into the 20-minute mark.

Finally earning a bit of possession, the Rays kicked a succession of penalties into touch and marched downfield. Working into some organised forward play, Ed Gower snapped up a loose ball to reach over the line for their opening score of the contest.

Undeterred, the Rising made huge metres through former Waratah Lopeti Timani and quickly added to their total when captain Nic Stirzaker crossed untouched for their third of the afternoon. Rays hooker Luke Holmes was a casualty of Timani’s rampage, picking up a head-knock and being reluctantly forced to leave the field.

The home-side’s defensive linespeed kept the Rays pinned behind the advantage line but a few more penalties carried the visitors downfield and Dave Feltscheer dived over in the left corner to narrow the gap to 21-13 after 25-minutes.

From broken play just inside Rising territory, Dave Porecki – on for Holmes – made a brilliant break and was dragged down metres short of the tryline. He offloaded to Greg Peterson but the ref pulled it back only to award the Rays a penalty. The long throw set up a driving maul and Matt Lucas dummied outside and sniped over the line to level the scores.

Then followed one of the crazier passages of play this scribe has seen.

Stirzaker broke down the right short side from a scrum and fed winger Veainu who cut inside and offloaded back to his halfback. The Sydney Uni scrummie was destined for the tryline but was hauled down metres short of the paint. Rays centre Brian Sefanaia snapped up the ball and took off on a 90-metre break down field but was also dragged down just short of scoring. Manly prop Mitch Lewis had sprinted the full length of the field in support and was rewarded for his efforts with a five pointer to take a 26-21 lead into the break.

The Rising were just as quick to score in the second half as they were in the first and it was Veainu with his second for a 29-26 lead.

The Rays were held up twice in the space of two minutes and finally gained some dominance at the scrum with the introduction of Nick Lah from the bench. Camping on the Rising’s tryline, Porecki eventually busted over to take a 34-29 lead with half an hour to play.

It was the Rising’s turn to feed off penalties with 15 minutes to play and Debreczeni took advantage of some weak defence one out from an attacking scrum and reclaimed the lead at 37-34.

From there, the Rising quickly turned the screws, running in tries to Sefanaia Naivalu and replacement Reuben Rolleston as the Rays emptied the bench before Harry Bergelin went off injured and was replaced by playmaker Sam Vaevae, forcing the visitors to play a man down at the scrum.

Debreczeni became the third Rising player to score a double with two minutes left on the clock for the final 55-34 scoreline.

Melbourne Rising 55 (Telusi Veainu 2, Sefanaia Naivalu 2, Jack Debreczeni 2, Nic Stirzaker, Reuben Rolleston tries; Jack Debreczeni 5 cons) defeated North Harbour Rays 34 (Ed Gower, Dave Feltscheer, Matt Lucas, Mitch Lewis, Dave Porecki tries; Hamish Angus 3 cons)