One-time Wallabies captain James Slipper has cautioned Australia’s buoyant bunch of Bledisloe Cup hopefuls against getting carried away with the raging success of the inaugural Super Rugby AU season.
An integral member of the Brumbies’ drought-breaking title-winning team, Slipper says Dan McKellar’s men should savour Saturday night’s 28-23 final triumph over the Queensland Reds.
The victory earned an Australian team its first piece of Super Rugby silverware since the NSW Waratahs won the competition proper in 2014 and should serve as a huge confidence booster after years of beat-downs from New Zealand, South African and even Argentine opposition.
“We’ve had a great year. We only lost four games this year and that’s pre-COVID (included),” Slipper said.
“But it was about making sure we got something from it and, Australian teams, we’ve talked in the past about being competitive and that sort of stuff but at some point you’ve got to win something.”
Slipper features in Wallabies coach Dave Rennie’s 44-man squad named on Sunday that will gather in Cessnock in the NSW Hunter Valley on Monday before flying to New Zealand later this week to prepare for next month’s two Bledisloe Cup battles with the All Blacks in Wellington and Auckland.
The squad includes 16 uncapped rookies and another 13 who have played less than 10 Tests.
Slipper is excited about the talent in the squad, which has an average age of just 24, while wary of making any bold predictions as the Wallabies look to bust an 18-year Bledisloe Cup hoodoo.
“As a senior player, I’m very excited for where Australian rugby can go just by seeing the young players coming through,” said the 96-Test veteran.
“There’s a plethora of young players coming through. You look at Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight from the Reds, they’re really good players.
“One thing I will say, though: Test rugby is a step up and Australian players have got to step up. Simple.”
To finally wrestle back trans-Tasman bragging rights, the Wallabies will need to win successive Tests on New Zealand soil for the first time in almost 20 years.
It’s the tallest order in world rugby.
Slipper, though, said the Wallabies had every right to feel optimistic after building confidence during the 10-week domestic competition, played out because Super Rugby was shut down in March due to the coronavirus.
“As players, we’ve really enjoyed it,” the prop said.
“The (Western) Force, they didn’t get a win but they were competitive and every week’s been bloody tough.
“If we could play the Kiwis, then that’d be ideal.
“But I’ve been really happy with the level of rugby that the Australian teams have produced, not just the Reds and the Brumbies but all teams post-COVID (shutdown).”
The Wallabies are awaiting clearance from the New Zealand government before flying to Christchurch on Friday or Saturday.
The minute they touch down in NZ, the clock will start ticking on a strict 72-hour quarantine period.
After that, the Wallabies must train in isolation for another 11 days before being free to join the New Zealand public ahead of Bledisloe I in Wellington on October 11.
Wallabies’ 44-man squad for next month’s Bledisloe Cup Tests against the All Blacks in Wellington on August 11 and Auckland on August 18
Jermaine Ainsley (3 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, 25)
Allan Alaalatoa (37 Tests, Brumbies, 26)
Tom Banks (6 Tests, Brumbies, 26)
Angus Bell* (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 19)
Filipo Daugunu* (uncapped, Queensland Reds, 25)
Pone Fa’amausili* (uncapped, Melbourne Rebels, 23)
Folau Fainga’a (12 Tests, Brumbies, 25)
Jake Gordon (1 Test, NSW Waratahs, 27)
Ned Hanigan (20 Tests, NSW Waratahs, 25)
Will Harrison* (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 21)
Dane Haylett-Petty (37 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, 31)
Reece Hodge (39 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, 26)
Michael Hooper (99 Tests, NSW Waratahs, 28)
Tom Horton* (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 23)
Trevor Hosea* (uncapped, Melbourne Rebels, 20)
Len Ikitau* (uncapped, Brumbies, 21)
Harry Johnson-Holmes (1 Test, NSW Waratahs, 23)
Marika Koroibete (28 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, 28)
Noah Lolesio* (uncapped, Brumbies, 20)
Jack Maddocks (7 Tests, NSW Waratahs, 23)
Tate McDermott* (uncapped, Queensland Reds, 21)
Fraser McReight* (uncapped, Queensland Reds, 21)
James O’Connor (52 Tests, Queensland Reds, 30)
Brandon Paenga-Amosa (4 Tests, Queensland Reds, 24)
Hunter Paisami* (uncapped, Queensland Reds, 22)
Jordan Petaia (3 Tests, Queensland Reds, 20)
Matt Philip (3 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, 26)
Joe Powell (4 Tests, Brumbies, 26)
James Ramm* (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 22)
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (21 Tests, Queensland Reds, 23)
Pete Samu (9 Tests, Brumbies, 28)
Rob Simmons (100 Tests, NSW Waratahs, 31)
Irae Simone* (uncapped, Brumbies, 25)
Scott Sio (63 Tests, Brumbies, 28)
James Slipper (96 Tests, Brumbies, 31)
Lachie Swinton* (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 23)
Matt To’omua (52 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, 30)
Taniela Tupou (19 Tests, Queensland Reds, 24)
Jordan Uelese (9 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, 23)
Rob Valetini (1 Test, Brumbies, 22)
Nic White (31 Tests, Brumbies, 30)
Harry Wilson* (uncapped, Queensland Reds, 20)
Liam Wright (2 Tests, Queensland Reds, 22)
Tom Wright* (uncapped, Brumbies, 23)
*Denotes uncapped player
yep I thought that was weird. I presume it is all about Rennie and his "I refuse to play on the 10th" BS statement so to avoid rennie looking like a D head they are playing on the 11th. Its a bad commercial decision from my perspective because of the time in other Rugby nations...Not that Im unhappy with the times but its not commercially clever and certainly not what NZ wanted or what was best for the sport.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
As a resident of the UK, I'm not so thrilled with the afternoon kick-off. I presume thought was given to the timing and the impact on other viewers but I struggle to see how Sky (or Supersport in SA for that matter) can be asked to shell out much to cover a game that runs at 3am (4am in SA). I'm happy getting up to watch at breakfast time on Sunday but nobody is going to watch these games live here.
Double Agent
Guest
What sort of beer-shy scared of the wife type of teetotaller waits till 1pm to have his first drink?
pm
Roar Rookie
Who are the "so many failures of the Cheika Era" ?
haha and up here in Brisbane its probably above 30 by 1pm on most sundays in Oct. Definately drinking weather....better have the BBQ for lunch otherwise the cooks cant find the lighter by tea time...
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
I never noticed that to be a tough option in Aussie, Jacko! :happy:
At least there is no one else playing NFL tho where-as there is plenty of Union being played all around the world...SR includes Aus, NZ, Arg and SA and possibably Japan too...
Discrete Pete
Guest
Hey if it’s good enough for the winner of the NFL’s Super Bowl to be crowned “ world champion” (Kansas City Chiefs) then it’s good enough for the Brumbies to claim to be SR champs!
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Yea, I missed the excitement of finals footy, especially when the Blues/Saders was called off. At least that had shaped up to be a thrilling finale. Instead it kind of just... finished. And a trophy handed out a week before it finished too. The finals series for Aus SE was great and even with no skin in the game, that final was exciting stuff.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Like it Jacko
It makes it tough in Aus SH...Drinking from 1pm thru to whenever.... Mondays look to be optional for those weekends
Do what they did this season and then have a TT crossover 1v1..2v2 etc allthe way down to 5th after local comp done. need to fill about 14 weeks plus a couple of byes.
The "Gatland Fever" pandemic died off pretty quickly eh Barney! As a Chiefs supporter Im looking forward to a new coach for next season before the great Gatland comes back from his Lions safari and gets them to play gatball again in 2022...
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
Yeah I agree. It'd be great to have some TT competition but if not, what there is in both countries is still pretty good. I hope NZ goes for a final series next year if they do have an internal competition, it might not change the results but it is bloody good viewing
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Slipper noted the teams performance in his comments but gave his team one less win than they actually got.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
What would have been a huge surprise is if a South African side had won SRAus or SRAotea - that would have been something. Really though, although a predictable result in both comps, it was good to see rugby and both comps were a success in respect to making rugby available and watchable again. Especially the Sunday arvo games being a departure from the normal broadcast times. While a TT might have been nice next year, happy with a rerun of this year if that’s all we can go with.
Steven Harris
Back to back Sunday arvo test match rugby...you beauty.
BarneySF
Guest
Agreed - maybe watch the pre-Covid first half away game against the Chiefs as well - then you can kind of extrapolate a bit of a better story. IIRC, Chiefs were on a bit of a roll early on and Gatland fever was in effect. Was a great game anyway
BarneySF
Guest
I guess better put below by Paulo
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
And a NZ team won the NZ Competition. Wow! Really? hahahahahaha. TBH I'm actually a lot more positive about rugby in Australia going forward than I have been in the last 5 - 6 years, especially after seeing the intensity of the final on Saturday. I'm a bit disappointed that so many of the failures of the Cheika era are still around but with a squad of 44 I guess it was inevitable and the real view of the future will be once Rennie names his captain and the first 23 of the year. I personally hope that it is primarily some of the new blood coming through and will accept some losses this year as long as it looks like there is a plan for going forward.