What a roller coaster first round of Super Rugby in 2015 we have just been dished up, and no doubt many tipsters’ hopes and dreams of a good start to their respective competitions have been dashed on the rocks of the unexpected.

I wonder how the weekend’s results stack up against Andrew Logan’s recent tipping guide here on The Roar from last week?

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Chris Roche, also last week, wrote an article highlighting the importance of winning the ruck and it would seem he was bang on the money. Glancing over the match centre statistics on the official SANZAR website, all of the winning teams had the higher ruck success percentage.

It appears we have a rollicking tournament ahead of us this year and I for one cannot wait for Round 2 to get underway. It’s early days, but how is the competition shaping up?

The Australian conference
After this weekend, it is fair to say the Brumbies stand head and shoulders at the top of the Aussie conference with a commanding win over the Reds on Friday night. Their forwards were well drilled and cohesive and really did boss the collisions against their opposites. It seems my fear for this team after the loss of forwards coach Laurie Fisher may be misplaced.

The backline, too, was just as well drilled and Wallaby coach Michael Cheika must have taken notice of the fluidity and control exhibited by the Brumbies backs from halfback through to centre in particular. With some significant strike power out wide, 2015 shapes as a good year.

The Reds will be incredibly disappointed with their showing and in particular their forward effort. Question marks will continue to be raised regarding the abilities of the coaching staff and that is set to continue.

However, it should not be forgotten that the Reds can still introduce Adam Thomson, Hendrik Tui and Rob Simmons to the mix, along with Greg Holmes later in the season. In the backs, James O’Connor is yet to make his first appearance and Quade Cooper will be available later in the season so I wouldn’t be quick to write the Reds off just yet, but for now, the outlook does appear bleak.

The two surprises were the Force and Rebels, both securing away wins against last year’s grand finalists, the Waratahs and the Crusaders, away from home. Not many would have confidently predicted those results.

The Rebels had never won a match away from home while in possession of their passports and Christchurch certainly seemed the least likely place they would break their duck. However, the Rebels fronted with a solid forward and defensive effort which in the end proved too much for a lethargic Crusaders team. The Rebels also played 20 minutes with 14 men, although the Crusaders also lost a man for 10 as well. I would still have question marks over the Rebels’ squad depth but for now the competition will sit up and take notice.

The Force were given next to no chance in Sydney, but fortunately for Michael Foley’s team they took no notice of turned up with a simple game plan of attacking and controlling the ruck and, in short, did that very, very well. So well, that a bonus point victory was secured. With the return of Matt Hodgson and Nick Cummins to come, the Force certainly look capable of finally giving the playoffs a real shake, although a few scrum issues suggest the loss of Kieran Longbottom has yet to be resolved. Goes to show that if you have a good tighthead, move heaven and earth to keep him.

The Waratahs were a major disappointment and frankly looked a touch underdone. Disjointed would be a kind word to describe their efforts and as defending champions they were very poor.

However, I personally would not be too worried about Sunday’s performance as the essential ingredients still exist and I would have no doubt the confidence and timing will return in due course. But they won’t want to serve up too many performances of that nature as the handy man at the stadium may end up with more work than he can comfortably handle.

One positive was the scrum, which seems to have made significant improvements on last season and is no longer a cause for concern. At one point, down to seven men, they held their own against a full Force pack.

I would also suggest that the performances of the Rebels and Force are an indication of the value of the NRC and a good example of why this competition is a must for Australian rugby. Both teams were able to achieve significant milestones in the first round and turn up fit and ready to play. Coincidence? I think not.

The New Zealand conference
Aside from the Crusaders’ poor showing, the New Zealand conference turned out the results most were expecting. The Crusaders are famous for their slow starts but this was exceptional.

Despite the availability of some of their biggest names they turned in a lethargic and listless display against a much hungrier Rebels team. It has to be a real sense of frustration for coach Todd Blackadder that this team continues to fail to hit the ground running and I would expect there will be some harsh words being uttered down south this week. However, perhaps the worse the start the more likely they are to win the tournament such is the ability in this squad, and I still expect them to feature later in the year.

The Chiefs currently look the best of the New Zealand teams and secured an away win in North Harbour. It wasn’t so much the nature of the performance that leads me to think this, but more the fact they have so much quality yet to take the field.

To win away against a good Blues side without Brodie Retallick, Aaron Cruden, Hosea Gear, Liam Squire, Liam Messam and Tim Nanai Williams signals the depth of this squad and frankly it’s all a bit scary. The debut of Damian McKenzie was a real highlight, making the step up from ITM Cup with ease, and he looks set for a long and lucrative career.

The Blues, on the other hand, looked all at sea. Half the team seemed intent to kick, the other half run. They lacked any real cohesion and on-field leadership and their decision making needs a fair bit of work. This team does not lack for talent but something simply isn’t clicking. I suspect that it may be more of the same this season for the Blues, however maybe the trip to South Africa might just be the ticket for this team to escape the scrutiny for a couple of weeks and help galvanise the squad.

The Hurricanes secured a valuable away win in South Africa against the Lions on the back of a very solid defensive effort and much improved set piece, particularly at scrum time. The team’s solidity on defence was a major point for a Hurricanes team known more for their flamboyant attack rather than their stifling defence.

The systems they have employed worked a treat and leading the charge was Ardie Savea and Brad Shields, who really made their tackles count. Of concern will be their discipline, however, conceding a number of soft penalties which allowed the Lions to camp in their half for long periods of time and apply pressure. They were able to cope on this occasion but sooner or later it will count against them if it isn’t addressed.

The Highlanders had the first week bye and we will get the opportunity to have our first look at them next weekend.

The South African conference
It’s fair to say that this conference turned out two genuine upsets that, again, few would have predicted, outside of Harry Jones of course. Harry tried to warn all of us that the Stormers were a team to be respected, however we turned a blind eye to his warning and the Stormers went on to secure a fantastic away win over their arch rivals the Bulls in Pretoria.

The Stormers dominated the contact area, and with a dynamic centre pairing made the most of their opportunities and in the end did so quite easily. The Stormers, despite many notable absentees, have laid down a marker within the South African conference and their forward pack will take some stopping. Biltongbek remarked how he was interested to see how the impending departure of long-serving coach Allister Coetzee would affect the squad and it seems it has done so in a positive fashion.

I feel now that I had fallen into a trap with the Bulls. Blinded by the chatter around their proposed new expansive style and the prodigious talent of Handre Pollard I expected more from this outfit despite writing myself that I had doubts over what the Bulls can truly offer this season. It seems I can ignore my own advice, and Harry’s.

Despite a promising start, the Bulls seemed to retreat into their shell after the Stormers scored a quick brace of tries and resorted to the Bulls of old, one out runners charging into a brick-like Stormers defence over and over and ignoring the obvious talent out wide. They’re a frustrating team to watch. The Bulls will always present a significant obstacle to overcome, but the better teams, much like the Stormers, will simply absorb their onslaughts and pick them off at opportune times. It appears that it will be more of the same from Loftus this season.

In arguably the match of the round, the Cheetahs secured a victory against the highly rated Sharks in Durban in a fast paced, exciting match. With the number of squad changes the Cheetahs had suffered and the loss of some highly experienced Springboks, the Cheetahs were widely panned as likely wooden spooners. Yet they turned up to the Shark Tank ready to play and play they did, matching the Sharks physically and displaying their talents out wide.

With that sort of spirit and intent the Cheetahs may be on the road to recreating their magical 2013 season, although the question mark regarding squad depth is still to be answered. Also, if you want to see what the effect of a genuine impact player can have on your team check out the efforts of Boom Prinsloo off the bench for the Cheetahs. He made a real difference when he came on with a number of blockbusting runs and was a major catalyst for this victory to his team.

The Sharks also tried to employ an attacking game plan, which made this game one to watch and good to see after the turgid strategies employed in recent memory. However, it was perhaps the wrong idea to play such an open game against a team like the Cheetahs, who thrive in such match conditions. I felt the leadership and experience of Bismark du Plessis was missed, while the early loss of Tendai Mtawarira left the team with an experience and leadership void that played into the Cheetahs’ hands.

I still expect the Sharks to be there or there abouts in the South African conference, there’s too much talent not to be.

Which brings me now to the Lions, a team which is very well drilled and plays to their utmost ability, but seem like they are destined for a season of ‘almost but not quite’.

They toiled hard and without fear against a confident Hurricanes side but struggled to put them away despite earning territorial and possession superiority. Unfortunately they lack any real game breakers out wide to convert their hard-working forwards’ efforts. While I suspect that they will continue to acquit themselves very well, they will not score the points they will need too to really push themselves up the ladder in this competition.

They will still present a thorough challenge for their opposition and will certainly make life tough for their upcoming opponents, however.

All in all, a really enjoyable first round of Super Rugby and for the first time in a long time, perhaps ever, there does not appear to be any easy beats. It’s a more even competition across the board, which for a rugby fan like me is just fantastic.