The first month Super 14 report card for the Aussies

 
Brett McKay Columnist

By , 9 Mar 2010 Brett McKay is a Roar Expert

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Reds players celebrate their win against the Chiefs in a Super 14 Rugby match. AAP Image/NZPA, Wayne Drought

Reds players celebrate their win against the Chiefs in a Super 14 Rugby match. AAP Image/NZPA, Wayne Drought

With the Super 14 now a month in, it would seem as good a time as any to start marking the Australian teams, and see which, if any, teams might be heading for the pointy end of the competition ladder.

As I discussed last week, the quality of the rugby this year is a massive improvement on last year, and the teams are more than willing to play ball-in-hand wherever possible. Even in ordinary conditions like what I sat through on Friday night (and somehow stayed dry), the ball is being delivered by hand way more often that it’s being kicked, and it’s a wonderful thing.

For the powers that be that decided to bring in these new breakdown interpretations, they get an A+.

ACT Brumbies (6th after 4 rounds, 12pts from 3 wins, 1 loss, 0 bonus points)

The Brumbies are quickly becoming the Super Rugby equivalent of the St.George/Illawarra Dragons, in that despite promising so much, and with so much playing talent on their roster, they still manage to find new ways to frustrate their fans.

After a month, they’re sitting on three wins and on the cusp of the top four, but I’d be very surprised if they’ve taken much satisfaction out of any of their wins so far. Of those three wins, it would only be the win over the Lions on Friday night that you could call comfortable and even that wasn’t as convincing as it should have been.

The Brumbies can take a positive out of the fact they’ve come back from their Perth and South African tour with two wins from three outings, and that they play seven of their last ten games at home.

But while doing that, they need to have a bloody good look at themselves, and work out how they might start producing much-needed bonus points. For several of the last couple of years the Brumbies have found themselves missing finals births because of a lack of bonus points, and right now, the Brumbies and the Force are the only teams yet to register a BP in 2010.

They’re looking good in patches, the Brumbies, and young players like Christian Lealiifano are shining amongst some much bigger names, but they’re still yet to really click for the full 80 minutes. They get a B+ for the moment, but only really on the strength of the three wins.

Queensland Reds (7th – 10pts: 2W 2L 2BPs)

I’ve got to say this upfront: I’m loving watching the Reds this season. The Reds are playing not unlike they did last year, with that unbridled desire of youth to attack, but now with the added bonus of much improved defence.

There’s no doubt whatsoever that the appointment of Ewen McKenzie as coach has been the catalyst for the Reds apparent resurgence this year, and it’s easy to see his fingerprints all over the greatly enhanced Queensland defensive line.

What’s been really refreshing about McKenzie’s coaching has been his willingness to let his talented young backs loose in attack, where plenty would have assumed he might have reigned that in somewhat.

Whatever he’s doing is working though, and the likes of Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia and ever-mercurial fly-half Quade Cooper seem to get better every week. Young props Laurie Weeks and Ben Daley are earning plenty of praise, and rookies like Luke Morahan, the Faingaa brothers, and Rod Davies are relishing their opportunities.

Despite an injury toll that would generally bring a lot of excuses, the Reds are the form Australian side after 4 rounds. They get a well-deserved A-, for performing well above expectations, but with some aspects still to improve.

New South Wales Waratahs (10th – 9pts: 2W 2L 1BP)

It’s funny, it seems all the frustrations that the Brumbies bring are quickly forgiven when you watch the Waratahs. Two fairly ordinary performances started the season, they then played some of their best rugby in years in the high-scoring loss to the Bulls in Pretoria, but then reverted back to their default 2009 “game plan” in just beating the Sharks.

The Waratahs have some of the best attacking players, and most mobile forwards in Super Rugby, yet they seem to be no closer to playing rugby under the 2010 interpretations. In some respects, the new applications of the tackle laws were designed for the attacking potential on the ‘Tahs’ list, yet for some reason, they’re mostly still running last year’s patterns.

If the Brumbies are like the Dragons, then the ‘Tahs must be the equivalent of their SFS flatmates, the Sydney Roosters. Like the Roosters though, you can’t imagine ‘Tahs supporters and sponsors putting up with this inconsistency for too long, and if their situation doesn’t improve over the coming weeks, then the pressure will only mount. They get a borderline C+/B-. I’ll let their supporters decide which way the coin falls.

Western Force (14th – 0pts: 0W 3L 0BPs)

No matter which you way you look at the Force’s start to the season, it’s not pretty. Three losses from their first three outings, and a causality list that would give some hospitals a good run, highlights just how bad they’re going.

They lost their marquee signing, former South African flyhalf Andre Pretorius, before the season began, and since then, their injury toll has worsened to the point where it might just be easier to name the players still fit.

From that respect, the bye over the weekend just gone came at absolutely the perfect time for the Force, as it gives them extra time to get some players fit again, and work their hurried new signings from Japan, favourite son Scott Staniforth and former All Black David Hill, into their systems.

But on the other side of the coin, the bye also means no points, and all other teams edge further away. For the Force to get some semblance of credibility back into their 2010 campaign they have to beat the Reds in Brisbane this weekend; it’s that simple. For now, the Force get a D; not unexpected, but with some mitigating circumstances acknowledged.

Follow Brett McKay on Twitter: @BMcSport
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