Melbourne coach Rod Macqueen wants it made clear, he's not happy.

The Rebels came within a whisker of pulling of a major upset in their Super Rugby clash against the unbeaten Sharks before going down 34-32, which gave them two bonus points.

"I'm really happy to get the two points," Macqueen said, with points awarded for finishing within seven points and scoring four tries.

"But I'm not happy about losing, I want to make that very clear".

The home side opened up a 25-13 lead over the Sharks, who were unbeaten through the first three rounds and hadn't conceded a try, but were unable to hold off the Springbok-laden visitors.

Star five-eighth Danny Cipriani was both hero and villain.

The English import scored a brilliant individual try just after halftime, showing all his skills as he cut a swathe through the Sharks' defence on his way to touch down.

But with the Sharks just ahead 27-25 with only five minutes remaining, Cipriani chased down a ball near the try-line and, swamped by Sharks defenders, batted the ball back in-field for Myer Bosman to score the easiest of tries.

The Rebels showed their fighting spirit to hit back again with a try by Jarrod Saffy in the 78th minute which gave them a bonus point for scoring four tries, but even with Cipriani's conversion they were short.

And worsening their defeat was the loss of star fullback Mark Gerrard with a dislocated shoulder suffered early in the second half.

He will go for an MRI scan on Saturday.

"I popped my AC," said Gerrard, who has been one of the Rebels' best.

"I've still got a good range of movement so hopefully it will be OK."

The Rebels, who pipped the Brumbies at AAMI Park in round two, trailed 13-3 until two tries late in the first half scored by Cooper Vuna and Julian Huxley had the home team in the sheds leading 18-13.

They held the lead until the 71st minute when dynamic Sharks No.8 Ryan Kankowski barrelled across the try-line after his side elected to run the ball rather than kick a penalty.

That levelled the scoreline at 25-25 before five-eighth Patrick Lambie converted the try for a two-point lead.

The home side were still in with a chance until the heart-breaking try by Bosman.

Macqueen made special mention of his forwards, who were poor in last week's loss to the Chiefs.

Skipper Stirling Mortlock said while pleased with the effort he was frustrated by the result.

"Most of the guys are disappointed because a few errors let us down, apart from that it was a pretty decent performance.

"I think we can hold our heads up high."

Sharks John Plumtree said there were some anxious moments for his side, who are top of the Super table.

"I was really impressed with the way the Rebels played," he said.

"We knew they would come but didn't think they would sustain it for 80 minutes.

"They can really kick on from that."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP