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There wasn’t much Michael Cheika rugby on show in the Brumbies 32-15 defeat of the Waratahs in Canberra last night.
The Wallaby coach was in the stand watching a take no prisoners clash where the discipline was low and the tension high.
For example, how was the scoreline 8-all at the break?
Before you can could blink South African referee Marius van der Westhuizen penalised the Waratahs four times in the first four minutes,and sin-binning Waratahs giant lock Will Skleton for a high tackle.
A Christian Lealiifano penalty and five-pointer accounted for an 8-0 lead for the Brumbies by the eighth minute – the Waratahs had hardly touched the ball.
It took the Waratahs 21 minutes for fullback Israel Folau to score his first try of the season, and another 14 minutes before Kurtley Beale landed a penalty.
There it was 8-all, despite the fact the Brumbies enjoyed 63 per cent possession, and the Waratahs had missed 14 tackles to just five from the ACT.
And with Dean Mumm’s yellow card late in the first half, the Waratahs were down to 14 men for 20 minutes, yet the Brumbies still couldn’t take control.
The Brumbies should have been in declaration mode by oranges, having butchered so many opportunities.
On the other side of the coin the Waratahs’ defence under constant and enormous pressure kept them in the game.
But with so many Wallabies on duty from both sides, and a handful of future Wallabies, where was the Cheika rugby?
No doubt that would have been the main topic of conversation this morning with Cheika hosting a get-together of current and future Wallabies over breakfast in Canberra.
If the first half was decidedly odd, so was the second.
At 18-15 in the Brumbies’ favour with 20 minutes to go, the Waratahs were on a roll and looked set to pinch the points.
But they blew every chance they had through lack of discipline and sheer bone-headed rugby, forgetting the basic requirements of pass and catch.
In those last 20 minutes the Brumbies snapped out of their lethargy to pile on 14 points for the 32-15 scoreline which wasn’t indicative of the way the game was played.
Not that the Brumbies gave a stuff, they had ended a four-game losing streak to the Waratahs, and that was all that counted.
David Pocock was my man of the match, outplaying Waratah skipper Michael Hooper in the clash of the number sevens.
Wallaby and Brumbies skipper Stephen Moore has started the season like a man possessed, playing great rugby in the tight and loose.
After Pocock and Moore, prop Scott Sio, lock Sam Carter, flanker Scott Fardy, half Tomas Cubelli, and Lealiifano were the pick of the Brumbies as they top the Australian Conference unbeaten after two rounds.
Next week it’s the Force in Perth.
It’s timely for the Waratahs they have a bye next week to iron out their lack of discipline, and bombing regulation try-scoring chances.
And they might be without hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau who has a suspected broken wrist, and centre Rob Horne with a knee injury. Missing those two for any length of time will be critical to the Waratahs’ campaign.
But with Horne forced off the field last night, Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson grabbed the chance to switch Folau to outside centre, where he looked completely at home.
Folau would have scored a couple of tries had Nick Phipps and David Horwitz not bungled promising moves inside him.
When Bernard Foley returns from injury, Folau may well stay there which means coach Gibson has to decide if the in-form Beale returns to inside centre, or switches to fullback.
But before those possibilities happen, Gibson must get his scrum and lineout right, and get Phipps to let the ball go earlier and stop crabbing across field.
Phipps can do some brilliant things like supporting Folau to score in the second half and coming from nowhere to drag down winger Joe Tomane last night – both brilliant.
But those are matched by stupid plays that cost the Waratahs dearly.
Gibson must make the most of this bye to strengthen the Waratahs across the board.
They got away with mediocrity last week against the Reds, but playing like last night won’t clinch a finals berth.