Brumbies with one hand on the Scott Fava Cup

Just as I wrote a few weeks ago, the Super Rugby finalists have effectively been confirmed. The four conference leaders now hold gaps of at least nine points over their closest rival, and with three rounds to come, it’s difficult to see any of them changing on current form.

What could change within the top eight is the final finishing order, however.

I lost count weeks ago of how many times the Hurricanes, Highlanders and Chiefs have swapped places, and I must admit, I didn’t actually realise the Chiefs dropped two places this weekend until I sat down to write this.

What’s more, the Highlanders and Chiefs are only three points ahead of the Sharks now, after their impressive win over the Stormers in Durban, and you couldn’t rule the Sharks out of finishing higher than eighth now.

You couldn’t rule out the Stormers and Brumbies swapping places in third and fourth, either. The Brumbies are starting to build late-season momentum at pretty much the same rate the Stormers are losing theirs, and with only two points between them after Round 14, that scenario is definitely in play.

For the second week in a row, the Brumbies controlled territory and possession throughout the match against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires, and particularly in the second half when with the sniff of a big win in the air, they began turning the screws around the hour mark.

(AAP Image/Paul Miller)

Tom Banks underlined his growing worth to the Brumbies in the no.15 jersey, regularly being a straightening runner in the backline where Aidan Toua would previously have attempted to zig or zag. It’s no coincidence the Brumbies’ better wins over the last month have come with Banks at fullback, where his general lack of kicking game aids the Brumbies’ desire to run more.

But Toua floating in and out of the backline from the wing – a la Kurtley Beale for the Wallabies in years gone by – is proving to be a winner, too. He hasn’t really changed his role for the side, but the side gets the added benefit of another strike runner in Banks from the back.

But in saying all this, the Brumbies were a long way from perfect. Their forwards battled well up front and certainly won more collisions than not, allowing the backs the platform from which they regularly attacked, and with the room they enjoyed.

It was a shame, then, that the backs still buggered up plenty of chances. They were guilty of pushing passes that weren’t even close to 50-50 prospects, too often looking to offload when the better option was to go to ground. The stats sheet says they kicked 24 times in general play, and a large number of them were ineffective; dinky little kicks to no-one, or worse, straight to a Jaguares player.

There is a lot of improvement in them, for sure, and their growing preference to hold possession and attack means there’s plenty of upside about them over the remaining rounds. They’re playing way better than they were not that long ago, and that’s a welcome sight as the playoffs draw closer.

They look all set to claim the Australian conference for the third time in the last five seasons, all in the season they were expected to slide down the table after some significant departures. In truth, and I mentioned this to Diggercane on Sunday afternoon, they’re playing about as well as I thought they could in predicting them to finish fourth in the Australian conference at the star of the year. I just didn’t expect three other teams to play worse.

On that note, the Waratahs also looked a whole lot better against the Highlanders, and even though they couldn’t quite fight back like they have been able to in games of late, it was a much better showing than over the first month or two of the competition.

They too have plenty of improvement in them, and still have a few big names guilty of dropping out of the contest for long periods, but they do now at least go into what is a tricky run of games in a lot better form.

And one of those tricky games to finish is against the Force in Perth, in the last round. The Force were outstanding in putting away the Reds on Friday night, reaping the second half rewards for the winning the battle in the first half. I’m still battling to think of a better eighty-minute performance by an Australian side this season.

I must give a tip of the hat to Peter Grant here. Not that he was the dominant player on the field, more that he steered the Force around the park and into all the right part of the field beautifully, and gave the outside backs plenty of opportunity to use the ball.

This is worth considering, because at his best with the Stormers and as a Test player, he was the epitome of the ten-man Springbok game. The South African centres could fold their jerseys post-match and keep them fresh for the following week, such was their lack of action.

(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

That’s an exaggeration, of course, but the sentiment remains. It no longer applies to Grant at the Force, though, slotting in at flyhalf for Jonno Lance way better than I imagined. And I expect I’m not alone there, particularly among Force supporters.

If they’re hungry enough, and can repeat that performance from Friday night, they’ll give their last three games a very good shake. I’m not sure they’ll be able to bridge the 11-point gap to the Brumbies – mainly because I can’t see the Brumbies losing their last three games – but the chance is there for them to finish the season on a very credible high.

One last thing to finish on. Why don’t we make more of the conference winners each year? Why isn’t more made of the fact the champions have finished first past the post in the local leg of the competition?

I’ve jokingly referred to the Scott Fava Cup in the headline – a reference to the first player to turn out for four Australian sides (followed by Josh Valentine and the Holmes brothers, for those playing at home) – but it doesn’t necessarily need a name; we just need to do more to recognise the achievement of finishing on top.