The Hurricanes' Super Rugby season is in disarray after Mark Hammetts side gave a way a 17-0 lead to be upset 42-25 by the bottom placed Melbourne Rebels in Melbourne on Friday night.
The Rebels, who were thrashed 53-3 by the Queensland Reds in Brisbane last week, outscored the visitors 42-3 in a stunning 55-minute period with six tries, and 12 points from the boot of first five Danny Cipriani.
It was their second victory of the season, both have been achieved at home, and the embarrassing result for the All Blacks-laden Hurricanes could have been much worse had Cipriani not missed a further 12 points from shots at goal.
The Hurricanes had looked to have the match sewn up in the first 20 minutes of the game romping out to a 17-0 lead courtesy of tries to halfback Chris Eaton, rampaging number eight Victor Vito and first five Daniel Kirkpatrick.
The Hurricanes, heavily favoured to make the playoffs, have now just one win, one draw and three losses from their first five matches and sit ninth on the 15-team ladder.
