Super Rugby
Rebels coach Hill under pressure
ESPN Staff
April 1, 2013
Melbourne Rebels assistant coach Damien Hill offers some instruction, Rebels media day, AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia, January 11, 2011
Damien Hill: Running out of time © Getty Images
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Melbourne Rebels head coach Damien Hill must oversee a upsurge in form if he is to save his job with the Super Rugby franchise.

The Rebels are 13th in the Super Rugby standings, and bottom of the Australian conference, following five successive defeats. Their only win this season came in their opening fixture against the Western Force.

And their problems have not been limited to on the pitch. Star playmaker Kurtley Beale was sent home, along with winger Cooper Vuna, following a fight on the team bus during their tour of South Africa.

Hill is contracted until the end of the season but Melbourne Rebels chief executive Steve Boland admits he may be forced to act sooner rather than later if results do not improve quickly.

"We've had some discussions with Damien," Boland said. "The coaching window and player recruitment window can't wait until the end of the season for those sorts of decisions so we need to make a decision on our coach well before the end of the year.

"We're all in the same boat. We need to see some performances that justify the team we've got and the effort everybody's putting in."

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