Who cares about Australia's Super Rugby finals chances anymore

Sigh. You wouldn’t want to be in the ARU offices or around Michael Cheika this week would you?

We all know the scores now, but the numbers from the weekend’s Super Rugby matches are worth repeating one more time before I address the matches.

Australia zero wins; rest of the world five. Australia 66 points, rest of the world 226 points. 160 points difference across the five matches. The average loss was by 32 points, more than four converted tries.

The Reds are going nowhere at the moment. They’re coached by two people, which is dysfunctional, they are trying to give new young players time in the middle and fielded maybe four class players in their first 15 on the weekend. So you’d forgive them losing to the table-topping Chiefs.

But to lose by 45 at home on any occasion is demoralising. Allowing the opposition 650 run metres, to beat 28 defenders and make 28 clean breaks is horrible.

It was extremely wet in Perth and the Force were up against a solid Stormers team that is now a clear leader in their conference. With two wins after 13 matches you didn’t expect the Aussies to win.

But they were so inept for long periods of the match that it wasn’t fair on a home crowd. Said crowd must be wondering whether the team will remain in its current form, or whether to re-up their membership or buy a jersey next year. You have to put more in at home.

Ah, the Rebels. After being tipped by many pundits (not this one) before the season as a finalist, Melbourne have been shown as an improved but still limited side. And they are not the first Australian team to visit the Crusaders on a good night and come away on the wrong side of a cricket score.

But after aiming so high at the start of the year and unearthing genuine talent at a number of positions across the field, an 86-26 flogging is unacceptable. Other Australian sides beaten by as much by the Crusaders, but they were generally in poorer states than the Rebels when they made their trip.

To have players of the future lining up across the park and have it fall apart so badly is a worry. It would put a dampener on player retention and recruiting as well as signal that upward improvement isn’t a given in Super Rugby.

I wasn’t expecting the Waratahs to win against the Hurricanes. The Canes have the Tahs’ measure or are better in almost every position across the park. But the Waratahs unearthed a specific model of play against the Chiefs before the break – and Sunwolves last week – that suggested a team effort victory was something of a possibility.

So to watch the NSW side never find their offloading groove or defensive stability was a letdown. The Hurricanes broke the line far too easily and never really looked out of control, even while the Waratahs were in front. There was always room for the Canes to move in possession that wasn’t manufactured by the Tahs, who relied a lot on Israel Folau again. They only come away with one try if Folau isn’t one of the most gifted runners in the world.

Some people complained about the refereeing in this match, and it was far from perfect, but to say it favoured the Hurricanes by too much isn’t accurate. And Michael Hooper deliberately knocked down a Hurricanes pass hard on attack and wasn’t even penalised, let alone sent off.

The most confusing aspect of the weekend was the Brumbies’ relatively weak loss to the Blues. I thought they’d discovered a pattern of professional, consistent play that wasn’t the best in the competition, but would make the opposition play well to win.

Against the Blues the ACT side were strong in some aspects of the set piece, but in almost every other part of the game were inaccurate, relaxed at times (which was a shock) and seemed to be less passionate and switched on.

The Kiwi team played well, but weren’t facing the same Brumbies that we’ve come to expect week after week. There was an intensity missing that was a huge let down two weeks from the finals.

Off the back of a series sweep at the hands of England and with a Rugby Championship looming, the ARU would be aghast at what they saw on the weekend. It’s hard to get a country excited to watch the best 15 players from five teams that can’t win.

Cheika would be worried too. He would have been hoping Wallabies players would return to their teams and elevate the rugby across the board, not get dragged into a series of demoralising losses.

Looking forward to the finals… Well, who really cares from an Australian point of view?

Those who read me here regularly know I don’t like to write doom and gloom. This year I’ve veered into that territory while following Super Rugby more often than normal and I see no reason to deviate now.

What does it matter if the Waratahs make the finals? Or the Brumbies (who should make it)?

As things stand the Brumbies would play the Crusaders in Round 1 of the finals (in an absurd fourth seed vs fifth seed match up, where the fifth-place team already has three more wins than the fourth). It’s not likely they’ll win. But say they did – what difference would that make, really?

A Waratahs shock entry into the finals could see them snag a win on the back of a bit of momentum too (at this point I’m half expecting the Blues to beat the Tahs and therefore put all five New Zealand teams above all but the first Australian team on the log). But even if the Tahs did win, what difference would that make?

None.

At this point, a finals win would just be papering over the cracks. Every Australian team was wildly inconsistent this year, except the Brumbies who were consistently just above average. Every Australian team was a full grade or more behind the New Zealand teams they will now need to measure themselves against year after year.

Reformatting Super Rugby has been a rude shock to Australian rugby this year. We have a lot of work to do before putting a team in the finals to host a match will seem like a victory, rather than a consolation due to competition rules.