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On reflection, there was nothing surer. After daring to put the words, “I don’t see any difficult picks this weekend” on the record in the Super Rugby Expert Tipping panel last Friday, there was just no way the opening round would go according to plan.
Not even my pre-emptive, “…which, of course, means we’re all in for 4/7 rounds and wasted powerplays” could save me. The opening round script was comprehensively disregarded.
This all said, and with the benefit of an extra day to let it all sink in, it’s been hard to get away from the conclusion that way too much focus has been on the upsetees, rather than credit for the upseters.
How many match reports and first-round summaries have you read where the winners were given token mentions before the main thrust became all about the thoroughly outplayed loser?
Why is it that the Crusaders always start slowly, and so the loss in Christchurch – the first loss in Christchurch to an Australian side in more than a decade – was to be expected, rather than the result of a wonderful performance from the Melbourne Rebels?
It wasn’t an upset, but why is more being made of the Reds’ capitulation, rather than the choking breakdown and defensive pressure of the Brumbies?
Then there was the Western Force. You might not recognise the name, but they were the team who beat the rusty, lazy, entitled, slow, incoherent Waratahs in Sydney on Sunday. They’re not my descriptors, by the way; they’re pinched from the copious comments written in the day-plus since the Force’s 25-13 win. Or the Waratahs’ 13-25 loss, it seems.
It seems to be the way of the Australian rugby fan in recent times. Token reference to the winners in the stampede to point out the fault of the loser. As Wallabies fans, we’re all guilty of it, but it’s also become commonplace as parochialism has taken over Super Rugby discussions.
So we have what we had on the weekend; the benefits of the Rebels remaining largely intact since the end of last Super Rugby season have been overlooked. The continuation of Laurie Fisher’s breakdown systems and the obvious defensive improvement of the Brumbies under Peter Ryan don’t rate a mention. And the Force’s self-discipline and ability to execute a simple gameplan exceptionally well is lost the weeds.
The Force is by no means chock-full of stars, but as they showed throughout last season they can compete with the very best. They devise gameplans to suit their skill levels, and they execute those plans to the letter. It’s easy to say they play simple rugby, but simple rugby is still difficult to pull off without a 15-man effort and complete trust in each other to do whatever’s required in that moment.
And you can see that in the way they scored their tries on Sunday.
The first took advantage of the Waratahs being down a man, after Wycliff Palu was yellow carded. A clean lineout take at the back into driving maul met very little resistance – Will Skelton aside – but on the first call to use it, the Force pigs simply reset themselves, drove away from Skelton (by now the only Tah in the maul) and crashed over.
Angus Cottrell’s try under the posts came on the 14th phase, and after phases 7 to 13 all occurred within a step of the on-ground signage in the north-eastern corner of the ground. Cottrell was just supposed to be a centring pick and drive, but he broke the rather feeble tackle and strolled over.
The patience on show in the build-up is a credit to the way the Force know they can hold possession and build pressure by doing so. It took them seven or eight phases to make the final 10 metres, but it mattered not. In a Rugby World Cup year, this is an important skill to master.
Their third try, to Luke Morahan, came down to desperation. Alby Mathewson kicked from the back of a ruck near his own 22, and he and Kyle Godwin won the race to the ball despite giving five metres’ start to one of three Waratahs’ chasers. Mathewson then saw that the lazy chase extended across the field and kicked ahead to Morahan in space. Too easy.
The fourth try was probably a touch lucky, but the fact that Kurtley Beale’s desperate hack could be taken so cleanly by reserve prop Francois van Wyk showed that the Force players are ready for opportunities whenever they may present.
The Rebels were great at doing whatever it took to stay ahead, and their patience in defence while they watched the Crusaders play surprisingly laterally at times was very impressive.
Like the Force, the Rebels showed more patience when they needed to, and more desperation when they needed to as well, highlighted by Nic Stirzaker’s regathering of a stray ball after an errant Dan Carter grubber.
But they still had to defend for the last 15 minutes, knowing the Crusaders would throw everything at them. As impressive as the Brumbies’ attack was, the Rebels’ patience in defence, along with the Force’s composure throughout were the highlights of the weekend.
And the Brumbies’ attack was outstanding, it really was. They created pressure and turnovers through their defensive line speed and breakdown presence, and then capitalised on the opportunities as they presented.
David Pocock was the man of the match, officially, but he very quickly deflected and it truly could’ve been any number of players. Yet people still wanted to talk down his effort because he ‘only’ made 5 out of the 64 tackles the Brumbies made all night!
For the record, Pocock was one of four Brumbies players to make five tackles, only topped by Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano’s six tackles each. Those six players made half the Brumbies’ total tackles.
Credit to the boys, indeed.