Wanted: Four Australian silver bullets, at the earliest convenience

Four Australian sides in action over the weekend had four very different experiences of their Round 3 games, and already the questions are starting to pile up.

Under the three-conference system in play for 2018, a lot of the Australian derbies will be played in the first half of the season, effectively making these points worth double value in the race for top spot. Any points you take off an Australian conference team (yes, including the Sunwolves) are points those Australian teams can’t accrue themselves.

It means that these same derby games can also make or break a team’s chances this season.

And yes, it still is only Round 3. But I think it’s already safe to say that the questions starting to build are important enough that left unaddressed, the Australian sides will quickly find themselves speaking of their 2018 chances in the past tense.

All of our teams are still striving for that silver bullet that ignites their season. The one little thing in a training session or in a game that come season’s end, they’ll look back on as the turning point when their season went from meandering to contender. And unlike ‘real’ silver bullets, these tweaks shouldn’t be hard to find…

The wounded Queensland Reds were always going to be a danger game for the Brumbies, after they were humbled in their season-opening display against the Melbourne Rebels, and so that danger proved to be.

The Reds’ passion and character was on display throughout Friday night’s win over the Brumbies, as they scraped, scrambled, and at times willed themselves into wherever they needed to be on the field. They competed exceptionally well at the breakdown – dominated, probably – and enjoyed some genuine set piece ascendancy over the more-fancied Brumbies forwards.

(AAP Image/Dan Peled)

But even though they created and even grew in confidence from scoreboard pressure – four of their six penalty goals came in the second half, ensuring they kept their nose in front – they still couldn’t create the opportunities that should have finished the Brumbies off.

Jono Lance and Duncan Paia’aua are a crucial combination in midfield defence, but that clinical attack combination isn’t there yet. Certainly, the Reds are getting benefit from Lance’s tactical kicking game, but it’s starting to become clear that Paia’aua needs to be the focal point of any attack, surrounded by the strike runners around him in Samu Kerevi and Chris Feauai-Sautia.

The Brumbies are still smarting about their disappointing display against the Reds on Friday night, and I can’t imagine the Monday morning review did much to ease their frustrations, such was their rusty execution.

They enjoyed possession advantage, made comfortably more ground than the Reds from similar carries, and promoted the ball significantly more, too, in a sign that the second phase game they’re striving for is starting the emerge.

But they conceded way more turnovers, and nearly three times as many penalties as the Reds, and two-thirds of the game was played in the Brumbies’ half. They were creating the opportunities only to let themselves down almost immediately. They were playing more rugby in spite of themselves.

A look down the Brumbies’ player stats shows that the backs – bar Tevita Kuridrani, curiously – all made decent metres. Kyle Godwin and Christian Lealiifano threw a similar number of passes in midfield, a sign that their attack isn’t just coming through the same channel all the time.

(Photo: John Youngs photography)

If they can restore their breakdown presence and their execution in attack at just about every point on the field – including their lineout drive – then they’ll be in a good position to give the Rebels the test that everyone expects this weekend coming.

By contrast, things are going swimmingly for the Melbourne Rebels on paper, and already they’re setting new records for themselves in that they’ve never won their first two games of a season before. Thirteen tries in two games (one of them a penalty try, admittedly) suggests they’re finding the try line with ease.

And that certainly appears the case currently. What I like at the moment is not just their intent, but the patience they’re showing in getting to the point on the field they want to attack from. They’re creating a reasonable platform up front, and they’ve clearly got the talent on the field to capitalise on that platform.

But if there’s one question about them in their opening games, it’s probably their defence. Their 87 per cent tackle success rate against the Sunwolves was a marked improvement on the 71 per cent efficiency they showed in their first match against the Reds. I’ve no doubt defence in an area they wanted the extra day of preps for before the Brumbies’ game this Friday night, and why they left Tokyo on Saturday night.

(Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)

Also, and though they’re getting away with it at the moment, the Rebels are edging closer to a very interesting decision at flyhalf very soon. Marika Koroibete could even be back this weekend coming, but young Jack Maddocks has been one of the Rebels’ best to date. Could Jack Debreczeni be the one forced out? And is Maddocks ready to play 10 at this level?

I reckon we’ll find the answer to both questions in the very near future. Right now, though, the Rebels are leading the Australian conference, and all power to them. All eyes will be on them this weekend as they face their first real test of where they’re at in 2018.

I remember writing of being impressed with the Waratahs’ ability to scramble a result out of games last season, and in that respect they’ve done well to carry that trait through this season. I don’t think it’s too unfair to say that the ‘Tahs of even just this time last year would’ve battled to find points from their first two games.

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To pull a win and a draw from games they almost certainly would’ve lost in the past is certainly nothing to be sneezed at, and they’ve given themselves a nice platform to bank points through a run of derby games once they return from Argentina this weekend.

Certainly, they will need to address their scrum issues immediately, though, or they will play right into the Jaguares’ hands in Round 4. Neither side have been perfect to start the season, but the set piece issues of the ‘Tahs will almost certainly be targeted by the Jaguares’ pack. It’s a huge opportunity for both sides to get this aspect of their start to the season on track.

The news that Kurtley Beale is in doubt for the Buenos Aires match is concerning, too, because the Waratahs’ attack after Beale went off against the Sharks was underwhelming to say the least. Bernard Foley is landing kicks at goal from anywhere, but he battled to get a simple pass to a one-off runner a metre away in Durban.

But again, there’s no better opportunity to get it right than against a Jaguares side struggling for anything resembling consistency. Though that might also make them even more dangerous for Breakfast Rugby this coming Sunday, Australian time.