Another Round of Super Rugby, another round full of controversy, excitement, disappointment, jubilation and sadness.

Already, talk has started around likely finalists and eventual champions, and discussions around the likely top six has already engulfed living rooms, water coolers, bar leaners and sporting blog sites wherever Rugby is considered important.

Personally it is a bit early to start nominating franchises just yet, but certainly a form line has been drawn and a number of franchises have stood up at these early stages.

So where are we at?

The Australian Conference
The Reds kicked off the Australian teams on Friday night and despite some promise wound up going down to the Highlanders in Dunedin, securing a losing bonus point for their troubles.

This relatively evenly contested match, the Reds struggled to gain any real momentum during the match but played with good intent in what was a fast paced game.

Considering the Reds were playing with their third first five eighth within three weeks it is of no real surprise they struggled for fluidity in the match. While plenty is there to be worked on, the Reds have some experienced and useful players to bring back into the team before seasons end so I would not be quick to write them off just yet.

The Force hosted the Hurricanes in Perth and suffered a heavy defeat by almost thirty points.

What is going on here? A once stifling and committed defence fell off 30 tackles on Friday night and suddenly their Round 1 victory in Sydney seems a distant memory as they have taken several steps backwards in the last two rounds.

It is hard to put a finger on the exact issue, they do not lack for commitment, however it appears that they are now playing without any cohesion which is perhaps a sign of a lack of faith in themselves and the current strategies.

They know they can perform better, how they get back there is the question they will be seeking as a group. It should be remembered that the Force had some similarly poor performances to begin last season and managed to turn the corner so the belief should be there that they can retrieve this current predicament.

The Brumbies travelled to Melbourne to face the Rebels in an Australian local derby and managed to secure a hard fought and close victory by five points and continue to set the pace in the Australian conference.

A tense and physical battle, conditions worsened as the match wore on, hampering the sides ability to execute and in the end the Brumbies were made to work hard for the victory, down to 14 towards the end of the match and able to withstand the Rebels closing onslaught and will be satisfied with an all-important away victory.

I am finding it hard to pin the Rebels at the moment, an away win against the Crusaders and then two closely fought losses at home against the Waratahs and Brumbies, all three of their opposition to date are expected to be there or there bouts come the playoffs suggesting this Rebels outfit may be a lot stronger than perhaps many have assumed.

The Rebellion offers plenty of physicality and backed by a solid set piece they are proving more than a handful. My suspicion is that they don’t quite have the class out wide to convert more opportunities into wins this season but I think they will surprise a few more this season.

The Waratahs enjoyed the bye this week and will be back on board in Round 4.

The New Zealand Conference
The Highlanders hosted the Reds in Dunedin and secured a narrow win to record their first win of the 2015 season. Again, a high tempo game was employed and like last week, a number of unforced errors in the process as the combinations build and evolve. They will certainly be hoping they can eliminate these unforced errors with a visit to Hamilton on the horizon.

Early doors for this team and they are certainly trying to play to their strengths and bring their impressive backline into play. A big question mark over this squad is how they will deal with the All Blacks enforced absences during the year challenging the depth and leadership within the squad.

The Hurricanes secured an emphatic away victory against the Force by 29 points in Perth on Friday night.

An incredibly satisfying performance for the franchise considering this was their third week away overseas and remains unbeaten at this point of the season. Also pleasing was this victory was obtained without regular captain Conrad Smith and regular starters TJ Perenara and Blade Thomson indicating the depth within this squad.

The Hurricanes have continued to improve as the weeks have past and still have plenty to work on, again being slammed in the penalty count and bombing a number of scoring opportunities but they can be very happy with where they sit with the balance of their season to be played in New Zealand and only a solitary overseas trip to Brisbane to be negotiated.

The Blues, the Blues, the Blues, what can you say? If ever there was an example of a team winning everything within a match except what’s on the scoreboard this was it, losing to the Cheetahs by a solitary point in Bloemfontein.

I mean, if you were unaware of the final score and looked solely at the match stats, you would think the Blues won this comfortably. The Cheetahs missed a whopping 31 tackles to the Blues 8, how does that happen?

The Blues created so many opportunities to win this match but for the majority of the time they were within striking distance, spiders appeared on the ball from nowhere and the pill kept being spilt.

A more frustrating performance you could not find and the Blues are now falling behind the pace losing their first three matches. Its looks a hard road from here the franchise and the pressure mounting on Coach Sir John Kirwan will be considerable.

The Chiefs hosted the Crusaders in Hamilton for a keenly anticipated local derby that turned out to be a fizzer as the Chiefs walloped the Crusaders by 24 points.

Easily the performance of the round, the Chiefs played with such pace and physicality the Crusaders simply ran out of answers, particularly in the backline.

An excellent performance and has many already touting them as potential finalists and likely champions. Having already demonstrated the depth within the squad from the previous two rounds, a near full strength team ran the Crusaders off their feet and have now earmarked themselves as the early benchmark within the competition.

As for the Crusaders, well, frankly they have been here before. They were similarly dispatched by the Blues at Eden Park in the early rounds last year and we know how that eventually worked out. With the likes of Owen Franks, Sam Whitelock and Kieran Read to be reintroduced the Crusade is far from over.

Again, the backline looks the issue and they will be hoping for Nemani Nadolo to help get this team cranking out wide as he did with his introduction to the Crusaders last season.

The South African Conference
The Cheetahs started of the South African conference with a tense and rather surprising victory against the Blues at home to remain unbeaten after three rounds.

The Cheetahs were not given much chance preseason but have shown there is plenty of ticker in Bloemfontein by raising eyebrows with their performances to date. By rights, they should never have been close to the Blues in this match, physically outmatched at the breakdown and dominated at the set piece, the Cheetahs clawed and scrapped their way through this match and while the Blues certainly didn’t help themselves, the Cheetahs were good enough to take advantage and secure the victory.

While many still do not see the Cheetahs continuing to produce these results for the rest of the season they are certainly not to be underestimated and can score points from next to nothing and will cause more nervous moments for the more vaunted opposition to come.

In my vote for match of the round the Bulls hosted the Sharks in Pretoria desperate to get their season back on track after suffering two home losses previously and managed to do so with a bonus point victory.

This match was played at a fast pace and with great skill in a typically physical South African spirt and was an absorbing contest from start to finish.

The Bulls much talked about expansive game plan poked its nose from out of the covers and their forward pack delivered against what is one of the better packs in the competition. It seems that the Bulls have awoken from their slumber, denying the Sharks possession and eventually wearing their inter conference rivals down.

The Sharks can perhaps feel aggrieved regarding TMO decisions but regardless, the defensive effort went missing during the match conceding 35 missed tackles and you won’t win many matches with those figures beside your name, unless you are the Cheetahs of course.

The Sharks will be disappointed with this result but for my mind, they are improving from week to week and I still expect they will mount a reasonable challenge in this competition. On another day, they could have easily won that match.

The last match of the round was another South African derby, with the Lions hosting the Stormers from Johannesburg. A match played in wet conditions; both teams were content in playing a territorial based game and knocking their forward packs against one another until one cracked which in the end turned out to be the Lions meaning the Stormers remain undefeated and hold down top spot in the South African conference.

The Stormers did not play particularly well at all, their lineout in particular had a number of issues and holding onto the ball proved difficult for a lack of execution and the Lions’ terrific loose forward trio.

While there were plenty of negatives for the Stormers, it shouldn’t be forgotten that in poor conditions and against a very committed and hungry Lions team at home, their class shone through and they found a way to win, the sign of a good team.

The defence should also be praised, holding on in a frenetic finish for over 30 phases as the Lions relentlessly pounded the Stormers goal-line, only to be denied in the end. Having played two away matches now, the Stormers have built a solid foundation for the rest of the season.

The Lions will be heartbroken with this result, a strong and committed effort; they have again come up short when it has counted. They are however quickly becoming one of my favourite teams to watch; there is something about a team that gives it there all regardless of the odds and captain Warren Whiteley’s decisions to not take the penalty kicks at the end of the game which would of earned his team a draw and instead pursue victory was to be admired if perhaps foolhardy and certainly provided an enthralling finish.

The Lions do look destined to challenge for the wooden spoon as it is hard to see them securing many victories this season but they will provide plenty of entertainment!

In terms of players to catch the eye Lappies Labuschagne powered through some work for the Bulls while I thought Warwick Tecklenberg was outstanding for the Lions. Damian de Allende keeps putting his hand up for Springbok Coach Heneke Meyer to take notice of; he seems to have an ability to be in the right place at the right time, proving to be the saviour for the Stormers with a match saving tackle.

Scott Fardy has been excellent so far this season and seems to making up for a quiet 2014 and Sean MacMahon goes from strength to strength.

James Lowe is one to watch, he just oozes excitement while Malakai Fekitoa’s enthusiasm and commitment makes him stand out, Julian Savea’s bump in the Force match is one to rewind and Mark Abbot’s performance against the Force was high quality.

So that wraps up my thoughts for Round 3, I wonder what Round 4 has in store for us punters?