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After the excitement of the first couple of rounds this one was a little bit up and down.
There were some incredible highs, the best moment being the Sunwolves picking up their first ever overseas win when they comprehensively beat the Chiefs in Hamilton.
But there were some real lows – or rather real blah games where sides struggled for rhythm and impact.
What is fair to say though is that there’s plenty to talk about…
Rebels looking good, not great
There’s a lot of expectation around the Melbourne side this year. Their back line is the thing of dreams for a club side. Last season they started very well and then faded away with some frustrating losses costing them their first finals place.
Against the Highlanders they showed again that their firepower in the backs isn’t just impressive names on paper but is really clicking on the field. They unlocked the Highlanders a few times with well-executed plays and some lovely support lines.
There is still the concern though about their forwards. The Highlanders scored two of the three tries through their forward work and the Rebels do have a weakness when defending against the bigger packs in both the loose and the set line out drives. They work hard for sure but they just don’t have the power to defend bigger outfits when they get rolling.
The important thing that so many title-winning sides manage to do is win when they aren’t playing at their best. The Highlanders came back hard at the Rebels, but they didn’t panic and managed to close out the win.
Of course the Kiwi side were missing some major talent but you can only play the opposition on the field. The Rebels should go well this year but it’ll be interesting to see how far they can go without that real talent up front.
Don’t get too excited about Quade… yet
There’s been so much talk about the return of Quade Cooper, and why not? He’s a great talent and given the story about his absence from top-level rugby, everyone is going to want to see how his comeback goes.
Well so far so good you’d have to say. The Rebels have won two from two and against the Highlanders he had some lovely touches.
Perhaps more importantly, he didn’t over play his hand which is something that many feel was a key area of growth he had to develop.
It’s too early of course to talk about where his season could end up but consider this – are any other Australian fly halves really setting the comp on fire yet or playing better than Quade?
Are any other Australian fly halves currently training and playing week in, week out with the Wallabies first choice scrum half or 4 to 5 other Wallabies backs?
(Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)
Will the real Brumbies please stand up?
It’s already getting to be quite a tricky job to get a handle on the Brumbies.
After week one I suggested that their fans are going to have a frustrating season. After the crushing of the Chiefs in week two I wasn’t too arrogant to suggest that perhaps they had what it takes to be a real threat for the Australian Conference and a decent finals run.
Now after week three I think I might have been right to begin with – it’s going to be a season of ups and downs and frustrations.
Against the Hurricanes the Brumbies were really very poor. While individual players didn’t play as well as they had previously, the big issue that the Brumbies had was that they had no answer when the opposition fly half (Beauden Barrett on this occasion) is able to control the game and force them back with clever kicking.
As results have shown, this current Chiefs side is really struggling and so the big win against them is less impressive.
What was also strange about the Brumbies match was how Joe Powell was replaced so early by Matt Lucas.
To be fair the issues with the Brumbies didn’t really seem to be caused by the scrum half. What made that switch worse was that Lucas went on to have a shocker.
At the moment he’s not up to Super Rugby and that lack of depth at scrum half could keep causing more issues for the Canberra men.
Weirdly they are playing the Rebels for the second time this season next week and you’d have to say that they aren’t likely to win that one.
Then they have to go against the Tahs. They could easily lose that one too and have one win from five rounds.
Not exactly a foundation to build a finals run on.
And speaking of bad starts…
(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Oh dear, oh dear, oh Chiefs
Firstly let’s be clear – the Sunwolves totally deserved their win. They earned it and were by far the better side on the day. However, that doesn’t stop us from saying that the Chiefs are really, really struggling right now.
They have been awful in the past two games and average at best in Round 1. There are issues with simple handling skills, ability to execute game plans and their defence is far too porous.
There are two things that really stood out, they are connected and they both involved Damian McKenzie.
Against the Sunwolves, the Chiefs needed to start well. That didn’t mean that they needed to try and run in scores from every corner of the field or use outrageous off loads. They needed to force the Sunwolves back, deep into their own half and put them under pressure. What was concerning is that they sort of tried this but they just didn’t have a) the kicking game or b) the ability to build pressure through a tough defence.
McKenzie really had a shocker and he’s gone from being a genuine back up option for Beauden in the All Blacks No.10 shirt to maybe not even making the squad.
If you play Jordie at full back and then have Richie Mo’unga on the bench, is there a spot for McKenzie?
What’s more troubling for Chiefs fans is the fact that they’ve now got to go to play the Crusaders and then the Canes before heading off overseas.
In two weeks’ time they could very easily be looking at an 0-5 record and who knows what will happen from there.
(MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP/Getty Images)
Sharks not so deadly after all
Just when you think you’re getting a handle on a team they go and mess with you. The Sharks from the first two weeks were impressive – an efficient destruction of the Sunwolves and then a very strong win against the Blues in Round 2. Great – we know where we stand. The Sharks are going to be ruthless in 2019.
Well no, apparently not. Against the Stormers they were really very poor, especially in the first half. Five handling errors, gave away five turnovers, nine penalties and lost two lineouts on their own throw. All of that in 40 minutes of rugby!
To be fair to the Sharks their opposition were not much better on the discipline side of things – there were more penalties in the match then points scored and more yellow cards than tries. But the Sharks inconsistency is quite alarming.
Reds chopping and changing
The Chiefs aren’t the only ones with fly half issues. The Queensland Reds weren’t terrible against the victorious Crusaders on Saturday but one of their biggest issues in the match and in general at the moment is what they are doing with their fly half.
Hamish Stewart is starting there but then there were many, many times when Bryce Hegarty moved in from full back to the first receiver role.
Sometimes this dual playmaker approach can work but it feels like all it’s doing is not giving Stewart the game time and confidence to play fly half full time.
If he’s Brad Thorn’s man then he needs to be there all the time. Of course he’s also got plenty of improvements to make but he’s going to stand a better chance of making those improvements if he’s actually in the position.
It’s already feeling like it might be another tough season for the Reds and you start to wonder how many “rebuilding years” you can have.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Is Super Rugby becoming more competitive?
For too long the Kiwi sides have dominated and then the Lions have made up the numbers while the rest all struggle to keep up the pace.
But in the opening three weeks of the 2019 season, only two sides have gone undefeated (Crusaders and Rebels) and of the top three sides – Crusaders, Sharks and Rebels – only one side has scored a single bonus point.
Yes it’s still early in the season but these stories of ups and downs – Brumbies, Sharks etc – are actually becoming quite a common issue for a number of sides.
You can see as well that some of the best sides are struggling – please stand up the Chiefs – and the traditional underdogs – the Sunwolves – are putting in performances that should scare most teams in the competition.
Who would have been able to beat the Sunwolves based on their performance this weekend for example?
This has got to be a good thing for all concerned and as debates grow louder about the future of rugby – an international World League, more South African clubs joining the Pro 14 up north, etc – a competitive Super Rugby is critical.
Of course we want to see a competitive and high quality competition – not just most sides being average!
How old is too old?
Ending on a feel good story, has anyone been watching Schalk Brits? The man is roughly 800 days away from his 40th birthday and is putting in man of the match performances for the Bulls and giving them some real edge and maturity.
Against the Lions this weekend he shone out among some great talent and arguably if you had to pick the Springboks starting 15 today then Malcolm Marx might be warming the bench – and that’s saying something!
The Lions were contained and knocked about by the Bulls and Brits had a lot to do with that – he won turnovers, offloaded, made great ground with ball in hand with tacklers all around him and never hid from the hard work of first receiver.
Of course his selection for club or country is not about the future – but if you’re trying to win a Super Rugby title, Rugby Championship or World Cup in 2019, how much do you care about the future?
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.