Melbourne Rebels backrower Richard Hardwick believes the side is continuing to grow in confidence after their mid-season revival, looking to shut down a dangerous Reds pack.
After going winless to start the first five rounds of the season, the Rebels have produced two gutsy performances to have them on the verge of the top eight heading into Super Round.
With the eyes of the Rugby community set to be on Victoria next week, the Rebels are looking to continue their strong form as they welcome the Reds to AAMI Park on Friday, taking lessons out of previous defeats.
“It’s a really good feeling. It’s nice to see all the hard work that we put into the first couple of rounds and the lessons we learnt, we’re starting to get that payoff,” Hardwick admitted.
“I think we still have a few areas we can tidy up so that’s the plan this week if we can put a full game together which is nice.
"It’s all about just believing we are doing the right things and the key thing is we’re learning week-to-week.
“…Each game we’ve slowly built onto our game, obviously not as fast as we wanted to, but now we’re into our stride, it’s really looking positive. I just think we need to keep our heads down and keep taking the learnings out of each game even if we win and we’re hopefully then going to have a good back-end of the season.”
Hardwick was relishing the chance of going up against the Reds' back row, with the likes of Liam Wright, Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson pushing their claims for Wallaby selection.
Recognising their dangers over the ball, the 27-year-old believes they need to 'frustrate' and limit their opportunities if they wish to curb their dominance at ruck time.
“They’ve been really hard on ball throughout the year, they’re playing some good Rugby but the key thing for us is keeping the focus on us,” he notes.
“We know we have to get there early, if we get good clean and take bodies, they can’t do anything over the breakdown. This is the key focus for us, just getting there fast and not allowing them chances over the ball because we know how good they are over it.
“It’s about putting the ball in our court and hopefully frustrating them to force them into silly penalties. It will be challenging no doubt, but we’re excited to put the foot down and try and go three times in a row.”
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As well as this, discipline remains key for Kevin Foote's men, having spent 30 minutes down a player during their win over the Force.
The club confirmed they will contest the red card to Ray Nu'u, with SANZAAR announcing the hearing will take place late Tuesday afternoon.
"Following initial consideration by the SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee, Ray Nu'u of the Rebels will appear at a SANZAAR Judicial Committee Hearing after being red carded for alleged foul play during a Super Rugby Pacific match at the weekend," the statement read.
"Nu'u is alleged to have contravened Law 9.13: A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously, during the match between the Force and Rebels at HBF Park in Perth on 8 April 2022.
"The Judicial Committee for the Hearing will be Helen Morgan (Chair), Mike Mika and De Wet Barry which will be held by video conference on Tuesday 12 April 2022, 17:00pm(AEST), 19:00pm(NZST)."
