Melbourne Rebels, Fiji to clash at Ballarat

MELBOURNE Rebels will use Ballarat to prepare for their debut season in the Super 15 Rugby competition.The league's newest franchise has announced four trial games, one of which will be played against Fiji at St Patrick's College on Saturday, January 29 (7pm).The Rebels, led by former Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen, also meet Tonga in practice games at Olympic Park on Saturday, January 15 and Morwell on Friday, January 21, with their final warm-up match against the Canterbury Crusaders at home ground AAMI Park, Melbourne, on Saturday, February 5.This will provide the team with an ideal lead-up to the first match of the 2011 season against New South Wales Waratahs on Friday, February 18.An array of international talent has been assembled for Melbourne's first year in the competition, including Australian Wallabies Stirling Mortlock, Adam Freier and Julian Huxley, English fly-half Danny Cipriani, Welsh number eight Gareth Delve and New Zealand All-Black Greg Somerville.Last season's St George Illawarra premiership player Jarrod Saffy also joins the Rebels after defecting to rugby union.Melbourne’s head of media Greg Thomas said most of the Rebels squad would feature in trial matches, with a relaxation of replacement rules allowing a large number of players to be substituted during the clash.Thomas said the squad had enjoyed training camps at Lorne in October and Falls Creek in November last year and were looking forward to getting out and experiencing regional areas of Victoria.“The Rebels have always said this is Victoria’s team, not just Melbourne’s. When we got offers from Latrobe Valley and Ballarat we were very keen to take it up and play trial matches there,” Thomas said.Entry to the Rebels versus Fiji clash is $15 for adults and $5 for children between 3-16.Friday will become rugby night in Melbourne this year, with the Rebels to play all eight home games as a lead-in to the weekend.The 18-round Super 15 Rugby season runs between February 18 and June 18, before finals commence on June 25.Melbourne is the 15th team to join the competition, which now features five outfits each from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.