The contest that set Super Rugby AU on fire in 2021

I reckon it says something about the outcome of a game when teams on either side of the result were supremely happy with their performance, about the way the game was played by both sides and even how the game was refereed.

When the Brumbies walked off Canberra Stadium on Saturday night after the 40-38 loss to the Queensland Reds, they could easily have made excuses about injuries and lamented things like shelling at least three restart kick-offs.

Instead, for the first time in I don’t know how long, they simply took the loss on the chin and lapped up a point-a-minute contest that wasn’t decided until last thing, and which was played in front of their biggest home crowd since the 2019 finals.

“First and foremost, it was a great contest. It’d be nice to be sitting in the stands tonight as a neutral because that’s what rugby needs: 78 points, five tries to four,” Brumbies coach Dan McKellar led off with post-match.

“A really strong rivalry is developing between us and the Reds. I know it’s always been there, but between these two teams in particular.

“They’re playing with a really positive mindset. We obviously went out to do the same, and I thought Nic Berry was outstanding in managing the game. His comms to the players, his decisions at key times.

“There was a lot to like about it from a rugby point of view.”

The rivalry point, and the specification for these current playing groups, is a really good one. The two-point margin on Saturday night was fourth time in five games since the start of 2020 to be decided by less than five points.

McKellar would go on to joke (you’d hope) about having to dust off the old Adidas French Caps to address the Brumbies’ sudden front row crisis, but the aftermath of the game was such that if you couldn’t laugh at everything that had happened over the previous two hours, you’d never laugh at anything. I reckon coaches need to laugh more, for what it’s worth.

McKellar did suggest James Slipper was a chance of being back for the Western Force game on Friday, March 26. And Scott Sio put his right elbow injury down to more of an ongoing niggle than anything concerning. Things didn’t look great immediately on full time for the Brumbies, but perhaps the bye week will solve most concerns.

On the other side of the four points, Reds coach Brad Thorn could barely contain his delight in winning in Canberra. And he clearly knew that not only have the Reds not done that a whole lot over 25 years, but it’s something he didn’t manage much himself in a career that basically consisted of winning everything, everywhere.

Brad Thorn tries to smile. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

“Obviously, a good feeling. We haven’t won here in I think it’s seven years’ there’s always some tough games down this way.

“My days as a Bronco and a Crusader were no different; had some tough, close ones here. Some wins, some losses…

“But 17-0 down, I think it was… we like to make it hard on ourselves,” he said.

Actually, it was interesting hearing Thorn reference the Reds’ not winning in Canberra since 2014, something he did at least three or four times over the course of ten minutes in the presser post-match.

I put the question about protecting the 2014 record to a couple of Brumbies players post-match for the ABC Sport broadcast, and the answer was the same: we really didn’t talk about it.

But the Reds obviously did. At a guess, I can’t help but think that winning in Canberra was something on the whiteboard at Ballymore under a ‘How to win 2021 championship’ heading, waiting to be ticked off.

And it was intriguing how they went about it.

They were down by 17 after 15 minutes, and James O’Connor kicked two penalties before they found their first try. They were down by 16 after 49 minutes and O’Connor again pointed to the posts – he then thumped the ball into one of them, and it was another ten minutes before they found their next try.

Whenever they down by a significant margin, O’Connor kicked for points first. He later confirmed it wasn’t so much taking points however they come, but rather a clear and obvious belief that his side would find a way back. And they did, three times.

They defended well, and they counter-attacked. The Brumbies defended well, and counter-attacked almost equally well as the Reds. It was a wonderful game; an incredibly physical game, for a one with such a high scoring rate.

But neither side were at their best, and both sides will have plenty to work on before they inevitably face off again later this season.

James O’Connor. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“No doubt we’ll play the Reds a couple more times this year, I’d imagine,” McKellar agreed.

And there’s just no doubt this will be the case. The length both the Reds and Brumbies went to keep playing this game out to the very end highlighted the gulf between them and the other Australian sides currently.

The Melbourne Rebels have certainly pushed both of them in the first month, and you have to give them credit for creating a game plan that came within two kicks of beating both teams, too.

But until such time that the Rebels can find a way of servicing what is a genuinely talented back three properly, and not just relying on Marika Koroibete to pop up and do something, they will remain at arm’s length as a threat to the top two.

The benchmark has now been set for the Rebels, along with the Western Force and the Waratahs.

If they want to run with the big boys, they need to be able to keep up.

Brett McKay is back writing for The Roar, and is also writing weekly rugby columns for ABC Sport.