The Melbourne Rebels were their own worst enemy as they blew a chance to topple the Super Rugby finals-bound Stormers in a 57-31 loss at AAMI Park on Saturday night.The Stormers scored seven tries, claiming an all-important bonus point after the full-time siren through a try to reserve hooker Scarra Ntubeni while five-eighth Jean Luc du Plessis finished with 27 points.The Rebels held the fancied Stormers to 31-31 until the 61st minute when the South African teams halfback Nic Groom scrambled across the tryline from a scrum.Two minutes later it was effectively game over when Stormers centre Damian De Allende crossed, his side taking advantage of an overlap with the Rebels down a man after flanker Scott Fuglistaller was yellow-carded for collapsing a maul.Melbourne, in 12th place heading into the round, did well to be in the hunt for so long after gifting the Stormers five line-out turnovers and four scrum tight-heads with the South Africans asserting their authority at the set piece.The Rebels werent helped losing both their locks to concussion with Luke Jones, playing his last home game after signing to play in France, and Lopeti Timani, both departing in the first half.The home sides attacking plans were also upset when fullback Mike Harris was a late casualty after failing to recover from an ankle injury suffered late in the week.They were also without regular halfback and captain Nic Stirzaker, who suffered a similar injury on Tuesday although his replacement Ben Meehan performed well, scoring a first-half try.The Stormers held a 23-17 half-time lead but the Rebels drew first blood in the second half with a well-worked try to winger Jonah Placid.As was the story of their night however, they were penalised just a minute later to hand the lead back to the Stormers.Melbourne coach Tony McGahan said he was proud of the effort of his injury-ravaged team going up against the third-placed Stormers.To lose three key players during the week wasnt great and then to lose two locks and a man in the bin - all the things that were thrown at us to be 31-31 was a pretty good effort, McGahan said.They scored 24 points in the last 15 minutes ... we ran out of legs at the end but you couldnt deny the effort and spirit of what the players tried to do in difficult circumstances.McGahan couldnt tip the Stormers to end the recent New Zealand stranglehold on the competition, despite their impressive set piece and improved defence.Theyve got the game to do well and if they play at home early on, he said.Once you get to the finals anyones a chance but the New Zealand sides have been playing pretty well.It depends on travel so where sides meet within that finals series will be a key component. Andy Pettitte Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Jose Altuve Jersey . Tracey comes to the Blue Bombers after spending over a decade with Queens University. Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach. http://www.baseballastrosproshop.com/roy-oswalt-astros-jersey/ . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Jose Altuve Astros Jersey . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Jeff Bagwell Astros Jersey .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. ' ' '