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Opinion
The ACT Brumbies are 4-0 after the first four rounds of Super Rugby Pacific, and I don’t mind admitting that’s a whole lot better start than I had them pencilled in for.
They were always going to be there or thereabouts but I wouldn’t have been alone in having concerns about the Scott Sio, Folau Fainga’a, Irae Simone and Tom Banks-sized holes from last season.
Take 350 games worth of seniority out of any side, and there are going to be recalibrated expectations. Particularly if the names added to the squad don’t exactly scream experience.
But here we are, four rounds in, they’re the standout Australian side and one of just two undefeated sides left in the competition.
They’ve got a tough month ahead, starting this weekend in Christchurch, and it won’t surprise at all if their unbeaten run comes to an end if whispers about Wallabies resting weeks for key players play out that way when the team is named on Wednesday.
When he first came back to Canberra mid-last year, the first thing returning coach Stephen Larkham said was that Dan McKellar had left him with a really good program that he’d be crazy to just brush aside and start afresh. Indeed, it would’ve been a top-two finish if not for a disappointing final round showing last season.
Enhancing what was already in place, with a few little tweaks here and there, was Larkham’s plan.
And to be fair, that is what he’s done. The Brumbies still play that forwards-led, set piece-oriented game built upon a strong defence and breakdown presence that you would expect of a side with Laurie Fisher among the coaching staff, and with the highly-regarded Dan Palmer now involved fulltime as forwards coach.
But the tweaks are also clearly visible and have had a definite impact.
The big difference in 2023 is that the Brumbies are now running the vast majority of their plays off 10, as opposed to switching to playing off 9 midway through the 2022 season – and which in hindsight was quite probably related to Wallabies plans for last season and the large number of Brumbies players expected to execute them.
Additionally, with Corey Toole and Andy Muirhead on the wings, Tom Wright enjoying a really encouraging shift to fullback, and now former Australian sevens star Ben O’Donnell on the bench, there is a much more concerted effort to play to space on the flanks. This is particularly noticeable as games open up during the closing stages when the increased ball-in-play and drastically decreased total game time produces more fatigue, which is very much a factor under the new law variations in play this season.
The Brumbies play to the centre channels early in their possessions, but manipulate the space with a few wider plays, ultimately trying to open things up for the speed men to capitalise on in subsequent phases. And they’ve done that pretty well already in 2023.
Wright has become something of a surprise weapon in this as well, with his improving secondary playmaking becoming more prominent in recent weeks, which is fast becoming his point of difference in what is going to be a pretty hot field for the Wallabies’ No.15 jersey.
Tom Wright. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
That’s not to say he’s not still prone to the suboptimal decisions often made in his career, simply that his upside is definitely increasing while ever he adds more metaphorical arrows to his quiver.
The switch to playing more off 10 has had two major winners: recruit Jack Debreczeni, who started the first two games of the year and took less than ten minutes to be labelled a World Cup bolter, and most definitely Noah Lolesio, who we often forget is only 23.
Both players are getting their hands on the ball more and Lolesio’s confidence has grown in games even just in the last two weeks starting, after playing off the bench to start the season. The smile on his face is back, as well.
“Yeah, I mean I’m loving my time at the moment at the Brums at the moment,” he told me after their 62-36 win in a crazy game against Moana Pasifika on Saturday.
“Bernie’s [Larkham] been awesome, Rod Seib our attack coach has been awesome too, I’ve just been watching our game with them and trying to improve my game, and just be the best version of myself.
“That can only benefit myself and the team.”
And his Wallabies chances, too, undoubtedly.
The halves are playing more as a block unit in 2023 too, with Debreczeni partnering with Ryan Lonergan, and Lolesio with Nic White. A starters-to-finishers switch is often coming around the 50-minute mark – at which point the Brumbies up their tempo, playing wider and faster – which is reaping results.
“I think if you look at the 9s and 10s that we’ve got, they’re very skilful and know how to get the ball to the boys (out wide) in the right parts of the park,” Muirhead said to me on ABC Sport radio on the field on Saturday night.
“I just think it’s our 10s being real confident in our game and knowing where we need to get to, reading the pictures in front and giving the boys some space on the edges.
“We’re stoked to have both 9s and 10s on the bench and obviously the starters playing so well at the moment.”
Stephen Larkham and Nic White (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
White has a more pragmatic view on why it’s worked so well, so soon.
“We’ve all just got a really good understanding of how Steve wants us to play the game, we work really hard together as a unit,” he said post-match.
“Rugby’s in a different place now, as well. It’s a full 23, and we’re using guys with 30 minutes to go, and yeah, that’s the big thing, we’re open and honest about how we want to play the game and we challenge each other, but we all want to do what’s best for the team and we know that’s all of us playing pretty similarly.”
But for all those obvious tweaks – the width, the halves, the bench use – Larkham one month in is quick to downplay his role in the unbeaten start.
“I’m certainly happy with where the team’s at, yeah, there’s no doubt about that,” he told me on Saturday night.
“But I haven’t changed a lot coming in here. I thought they had a tremendous season last year, there’s a really good playing group, there’s really good depth in the team.
“Seiby, Palms, Laurie, Dan Hooper in the Academy space… these guys have been here for a long time and they’ve got a really good system going here, so it’s really just coming in and making sure it’s all ticking over as it was last year.
“I’m not going to take any of the credit for where we’re at at the moment, and we really shouldn’t be taking any credit for where we’re at at the moment because the season’s not even close to being finished.
“It’s a good start to the season, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do here.”
Post-match, Larkham was thrilled to see his side blow a game open after some much tighter affairs in previous wins, but was also very quick to look ahead to the six-day turnaround the Brumbies now have to negotiate en route to Christchurch.
“We’ve just got to be on our game next week. They’re dangerous across the park, aren’t they. They’ve got a really dangerous 9-10 combination, dangerous in the forwards through their ball-carry, set piece is outstanding,” Larkham said.
“We’re going to have to work harder this week. We’ll make sure we’ve got some specific focus points for the Crusaders.”
But there is certainly a huge amount of pride in the way they have started the season. The Brumbies aren’t saying it and Larkham’s not saying it directly, but his grin when asked about exceeding expectations gave a hint of what they thought of their chances this season, even if only internally.
“Oh, I would’ve been expecting it, four weeks ago,” he laughed when asked how quickly he’d have taken the 4-0 start a month ago.
“We’ve got a good team, and I’m genuine about that; we’ve got a solid 42 guys in the squad at the moment, because of some injuries, and they’re all capable of playing Super Rugby.
“And then you back it up with really good support staff, and world class coaches… there is a certain expectation in this team, there’s no doubt about that.
“But again, we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. There is still plenty of work to do.”