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As usually seems to be the case in Australian rugby, the opening round of Super Rugby produced some slim pickings in many positions and a real jostle in others.
I came away from this weekend thrilled by some of what I saw but also a little nonplussed by the number of handling errors, poor kicking, etc. – probably a lot like some of the coaches are feeling about now.
Writing the first half of this list reinforced those feelings but from memory Australian sides often seem to start a bit sloppy.
To be fair it’s not just Australian teams that are taking their time finding the handle on the ball in these early rounds.
Anyway, without further ado, my Australian team of the round is:
1. James Slipper
None of the Australian props really stood out for me, but given the Reds scrum performance I will go with James Slipper.
To be honest I don’t recall noticing him much but he apparently made 11 tackles compared to Benn Robinson’s two and Scott Sio’s three.
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau
None of the hookers really blew me away either. Stephen Moore seemed unusually quiet and the stats say he didn’t get through much of the usually unnoticed stuff.
It’s a toss-up here between Tatafu Polota-Nau and Saia Fainga’a. I’m going to give it to Tatafu by a nose.
3. Paddy Ryan
Ben Alexander did a bit of work in tight. Greg Holmes did alright but his yellow offset the good.
Paddy Ryan caught my eye a few times with a couple of pretty good line-denting runs so, on a least-worst basis, I’m giving him the nod this week.
4. Sam Wykes
Scott Fardy – a guy I was hoping would kick on this season – was surprisingly very, very quiet.
Roarer Elisha Pearce compared Rob Simmons to Dean Mumm for his faux hard man impersonations this week and I have to agree. Skelton was really noticeable and did some good things but also fell off some tackles and looked like he got a bit of that punch-drunk exhausted look before he was subbed.
Sam Wykes wasn’t as noticeable as Skelton but made more of a nuisance of himself.
5. Kane Douglas
Perhaps the added competition to hold his spot in the team lifted him but Kane Douglas was the standout Australian lock for the round.
James Horwill was pretty good too and showed some glimpses we might see his return to form.
6. Dave Dennis
Again pretty slim pickings and having got this far in the review I’m now a little worried about the performance of the Australian forward packs on the whole.
Dennis is generally more the honest toiler type but that was enough this week to earn this spot.
7. Liam Gill
Michael Hooper and David Pocock both did alright but for me the battle of the best 7 this week was actually between Gill and Hodgson.
Winner by a nose was Gill who, as I mentioned in some comments earlier in the week, is looking a little bigger to me than last season while having lost none of his speed, running and flexibility over the ball.
This is also the first position in this list where I’ve felt I’m picking a player who played really well to win the spot as opposed to the least worst.
8. Wycliff Palu
This for me was the easiest pick so far and also another case of a player who played really well.
Palu looked really fit and very active to me which is fantastic to see, as it hasn’t always been the case in the past.
It was especially good to see in a week when many of the other Australian forwards looked a little sluggish.
9. Nick Phipps
Closest competition to Phipps was Genia, who was steady and did his job, but Phipps seemed to have a little bit more energy and enterprise to me.
Alby Mathewson was probably next best. Nic White had a shocker.
10. Quade Cooper
Matt Toomua saw himself as just a distributor all night – and not a very good one at that.
Quade held the ball up to put people into holes or long-passed to get around the defence. Toomua didn’t try any of that, didn’t attack the line and fell off his passes most of the time. Odd.
Bernard Foley had a bad night but he is definitely the right guy for the Tahs to have at 10. With so many cross-field runners and helter-skelter players, they need a steadier hand… but one that can still keep the pace up.
Who was the Force 10? Zack Holmes? Pretty unimpressive.
11. Nick Cummins
There were some seriously good wingers putting their hands up this week.
On the left wing, Peter Betham and Cummins were probably the pick. Dom Shipperley was also okay.
On the right wings Alofa Alofa and Lachie Turner were both so good I was tempted to pick one out of position and put one here but Cummins’ try got him over the line.
12. Kurtley Beale
Tough one this. Beale, Kyle Godwin, Pat McCabe and Mike Harris are all very different players.
I’m a big fan of Godwin – he is the most complete 12 we have – good on defence, good on attack, can run, pass and kick well. He didn’t have the best of games but, having said that, his stats weren’t that bad.
Beale tends to still go for the hero play and run sideways a bit too much for mine. Israel Folau does the same but regularly beats his man, as he did to Godwin on the weekend.
So I’m giving it to Beale.
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
We’ve fallen a long way since the heyday of Australian outside centres. Most were very quiet here on the weekend.
Tevita Kuridrani probably outpointed Andrew Smith when he came on and if he played the whole game would have sewn up this pick.
As it was though I’ll have to give it to Mr Consistent, Adam Ashley-Cooper.
14. Lachie Turner
I mentioned in some comments after the match Lachie saved three tries on the weekend – he chased both wingers down and then held the fullback (Jesse Mogg) up over the line. He also scored one himself.
Alofa Alofa easily the next best. That almost-try in the corner was sensational.
15. Israel Folau
Aiden Toua did a lot right but you can’t go past Folau. I read some comments all he did was take the last pass for those tries but a) there’s a skill in being in the right place in support to do that and b) he did so much else besides.
I was surprised Folau was tested under the high ball as much as he was – haven’t teams learnt he’s pretty good at that by now? Even more surprised when he finally dropped one!
There you have it. I struggled enough with the first 15 so I’m not going to extend this into reserves.
I’m sure there will be many more team-of-the-week posts and I can’t promise the consistency that others might but I thought I’d put mine forward to get the ball rolling.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.