BRUMBIES 30 REBELS 22
THE Melbourne Rebels have run into a Super Rugby finals roadblock, with the Brumbies extending their Australian conference lead with a 30-22 victory at AAMI Park last night. 
The Rebels pegged the match as the biggest in their history and crucial to their -finals hopes, with some tough games to follow including two trips to New Zealand.
But they trail the Brumbies by six points while the NSW Waratahs, who play today, sit between them.
The Rebels managed to get to within three points in the final 10 minutes before Brumbies winger Nigel Ah Wong sealed the victory with a diving try in the corner.
It appeared the visitors had wrapped it up minutes before when referee Ben O'Keith looked to award a try to prop Allan Alaalatoa only to change his mind when he saw on the video screen that the Brumbies had earlier knocked on.
Melbourne at least went down swinging and their effort couldn't be faulted, particularly in defence.
In the first half, they made 72 tackles to the Brumbies' 44 - at one stage lining up to take down a 25-phase play.The Rebels only had 26 per cent of possession as they trailed 20-10 at the break. The Brumbies, however, deserved credit for answering any challenge the Rebels threw at them.