The Emirates Lions suffered a fourth defeat of the Super rugby season after going down 37-17 to the Melbourne Rebels at the AAMI Park in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday.
The Rebels outscored the Lions by five tries to two with winger Andrew Kellaway dotting down twice for the hosts.
Fly-half Matt Toomua opened the scoring with a penalty in the 13th minute before tries from Kellaway and Richard Hardwick gave the hosts a 15-0 lead. The Lions responded through a converted Jamba Ulengo try and a penalty by Elton Jantjies as the game ended 15-10 at the break.
The Rebels scored two converted tries in the first 14 minutes after the restart through Isi Naisarani and Dane Haylett-Petty to make it 29-10. Another penalty from Toomua in the 65th minute made it 32-10.
The South Africans reduced the deficit to 15 points after Sti Sithole crossed the whitewash with seven minutes to go and Jantjies successfully kicked the conversion.
The Rebels completed their bonus-point victory with Kellaway grabbing his second try in the 78th minute.
The Lions, who are three-time finalists, are fourth in the South African Conference and 12th in the overall standings on five points.
Victory moves the Rebels up to second in the Australasian Conference and ninth in the overall standings on 13 points.
