Australian Super Rugby 2011: the journey so far

So this is my first time writing my views on an online opinion for The Roar – therefore I hope it is as enthralling for everyone to read as it was for me to write. Anyway, how have our boys been fairing in the revamped Super Rugby competition this year?

Rugby 2011 – Rugby World Cup 2011

More to the point, where do we think they’ll be come finals time?

Since we have just passed the halfway mark of the competition for 2011, we have seen the top teams establish themselves amongst the rest of the competition, mainly on the back of both attacking brilliance and rock solid defence.

On the whole, the Australian Conference has really started to sort itself out for this year and separate the contenders from the pretenders.

Let us have a look at each individual team’s strengths and weaknesses, how they’ve performed so far in this year’s restructured competition and where they will be when finals time rolls around!

Brumbies: To me – and I think most people will agree on this, – The Brumbies have easily been the biggest disappointment among the Australian teams, if not the competition so far this year.

After having such a solid year in 2010 and only missing out on the finals by four points, I was expecting big things from them this year.

To add to expectation, this is a team with an established core of Wallaby internationals and leadership players in Matt Giteau, Ben Alexander and Adam Ashley-Cooper who quite simply, aren’t performing on a weekly basis in 2011.

Aside from a grinding round one win against a grappling Chiefs outfit, the Brumbies have struggled all year with consistency for long periods of time and just can’t seem to get any flow or rhythm into their attack.

Even when their attack has clicked, either their defence or discipline has let them down badly and cost them very winnable games against the Rebels, Reds and Waratahs respectively.

Their 52-10 drubbing at the hands of the Crusaders also shows what happens when a well oiled machine hits its straps against a team that simply has no answers.

The road from here doesn’t get any easier either – still with a tour of South Africa and five derby matches to go, of which they haven’t won a single one all year.

If their attack can sustain itself and they show more discipline in defence, they will definitely pressure some of the higher ranked teams, but sadly I believe the Brumbies are simply pretenders in 2011.

Western Force: Out of all the franchises in Australia at the moment, the Force is the team that is really struggling with on field potency and attacking flair or enthusiasm.

Although they probably have less established Wallaby players than most of the other Australian Teams, there is still obvious talent within their squad in world class flanker David Pocock, veteran lock Nathan Sharpe and whizz-kid James O’Connor.

They have had trouble all scoring tries and are only averaging 15 points a match which is well below the mark if you want to be winning matches consistently. As well, they have not performed well at home with thumping’s by both the Sharks and Waratahs – which equates to a long season for any team.

James O’Connor is one player who has really come of age this year in a less than dazzling team.

The problem has been however, that not enough players have lifted around him for the Force to compose a solid attack or build any pressure on their opponents. The points are simply let in on the rebound.

To my mind, knowing the Force have a team with a very loyal fan base and are full of potential, a little confidence would do them the world of good. This year hasn’t reflected it and a lot of work needs to be done in terms of the team’s structure and the way they approach their rugby.

With a bit of belief and morale, this is a team that can definitely be a “Force” to be reckoned with in the future.

Rebels: The new kids on the block in the Melbourne Rebels are a team which has shown both attacking flair and defensive lapses of the highest order in 2011.

Being such a new team and having a squad made up of players from all over the world, we always expected the Rebels, first year to be more a transition than an aspiration for the finals.

Having recruited Wallabies veteran Stirling Mortlock, England party boy Danny Cipriani and other league converts in Cooper Vuna and Jarrod Saffy, the Rebels definitely have the making of a composed squad in future seasons.

The 2011 season started in the worst possible fashion for the Rebels, going down to a rampant Waratahs outfit before securing their first win of the year against the Brumbies a week later.

While they have definitely copped a few hidings along the way, they have also shown attacking dexterity in a number of games against more fancied opponents and have demonstrated that they are willing to chance their arm.

Though their attack has been impressive and very enthusiastic, the defence has been really lacking and let them down in several games. There is a serious problem when you are conceding an average of over 30 points a game.

For the Rebels this is a problem that might not be too highly criticised this year. But it will definitely need to be rectified come 2012 if they want to really start pushing their claims for a finals birth.

If the Rebels can keep this squad together and Danny Cipriani away from the nightclubs, there is real hope for the Melbournians. Most likely, for the remainder of the year they will continue to surprise us year and continue to chance their arm as much as possible.

They still have to travel a lot this year which is something they haven’t been so successful at. But once the dust settles and they look over this season examining what worked and what didn’t, they’ll be much better for it in future seasons.

Reds: The gem of Australian Rugby at the moment both on and off the field is by far the Queensland Reds.

This is a squad who, over the past two years, has brought a new dimension to the world of rugby with their running game. Quade Cooper and Will Genia are the most lethal scrum/fly-half combination in the world at the moment and it’s showing every week that this is a team playing with such confidence and flair. Everybody knows his job within the team and simply play off the back of the brilliance Cooper creates.

It’s no surprise to anybody that they are the firm leaders in the Australian Conference in 2011.

The Reds have really just built on the massive inroads they made in 2010. Sadly to say, they are the only current Australian franchise to do so.

While they started the year off slowly with a scrappy win over the Force and a flogging by NSW, they have just gone from strength to strength in their performances since then. There were still questions as to whether they were serious contenders in 2011; however their downing of a solid Stormers outfit in Cape Town has definitely reinforced them as re-hot contenders this year.

Currently, the Reds are a team that just has all the right elements in their play and it is very clear every time they run onto the field what they want to achieve. In my personal opinion, this is the only team currently with the belief and confidence to challenge the big name teams of the year in the Blues and Crusaders.

They have the perfect balance in their back line, nice aggression up front and a master coach in Ewen McKenzie who has this team headed possibly towards a finals appearance.

Waratahs: The boys in blue have had a mixed bag of results this year. They started as pace setters, but since then have struggled to really stand up when it counts in big matches.

On their day they can be one of most lethal sides in the competition with big name superstars in Kurtley Beale, Berrick Barnes and former Wallaby Phil Waugh as captain.

They have definitely shown this form at stages throughout this year – namely in the first few rounds against the Rebels and Reds.

While a round three loss to a rampant Crusaders outfit could be forgiven, losing at home to the lowly Cheetahs was one of the worst performances in the club’s history and has reinforced their inconsistency throughout 2011.

As far as this year goes, the Waratahs haven’t been a standout team when compared with the likes of the Crusaders or Reds.

They have definitely shown what they can do when they fulfil their potential and execute their backline and forwards properly. The problem being, that throughout the year they just haven’t shown what they are capable of week-in-week-out like the top few teams have.

They have shown this year though, that they can win games when needed and come home with the chocolates at the end of the eighty minutes which is one pleasing aspect. In addition, for the first half of the year they have gone through undefeated against all their other Australian rivals which will give them confidence heading towards the finals and hopefully will be enough to book them a spot – that is if they can win a few more of the cross-conference matches along the way.