There’s a strong chance that the competition table will split in two this round with the top six teams separating from the rest.
That’s nothing that a three-game winning streak won’t flip from a less fancied club but do you see that in the Fijian Drua, Melbourne Rebels, Western Force, NSW Waratahs, Highlanders or Moana Pasifika?
The answer is a big fat “no” on present form.
The intriguing spin-off may be that we have five or six teams jostling hard for positions No.7 and No.8 into the finals series which will be just as fascinating as the fight for the top four and the home ground advantage that comes with it.
Plenty can change in a competition like Super Rugby Pacific, especially with clubs mandated to rest Test players in World Cup year.
That’s where we’ll start this week’s talking points.
THE REST IS UP TO YOU
The title to Relient K’s old rock song sadly doesn’t apply -The Rest Is Up To You …not.
Top Wallabies must be rested from one or two games to satisfy workload balance in World Cup year.
That has essentially turned Friday night’s ACT Brumbies-Crusaders clash in Christchurch into a fizzer.
The Brumbies will bristle at that branding but “resting five fit Wallabies from the starting side” is under any definition of the term.
It’s not the fault of the Brumbies. Resting Nic White, Rob Valetini, Tom Wright, Pete Samu and James Slipper has to happen sometime so why not in a city where the Brumbies haven’t won since 2000.
(Quick quiz detour: Who scored the Brumbies’ two tries in that 17-12 win in 2000?)
The Brumbies have been the standout Aussie side by the length of Manuka Oval this season with their 4-0 start.
Great habits have been bred deep through the ranks so watching emerging backrowers Luke Reimer and Rory Scott in Christchurch will be interesting.
Young Rebels flyhalf Carter Gordon stood tall in hostile Hamilton in a losing side last weekend.
Noah Lolesio can earn a big tick if he can do the same in Christchurch.
(Quiz answer: Andrew Walker and Mitch Hardy).
HOOPER vs CANE
Flankers Michael Hooper (Waratahs) and Sam Cane (Chiefs) have played more than 200 Tests between them on top of a combined tally of 300-plus Super Rugby games.
That’s a huge nod to their incredible resilience in the firing line when over the ball because opponents have taken aim at them for cleanouts for more than a decade.
It takes a fearless attitude as well as deep reserves of physical staying power to step up each time.
The warriors duel at Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
(Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
If the Waratahs are to put a plug in the Chiefs’ rapid-fire attack, it won’t just take relentless defence, it will require flanker Hooper to do a bit more ball stealing and penalty-forcing work at the tackle area.
He does so much well but the value of just one or two forced penalties to switch momentum is what the Waratahs will certainly need.
As a contrast to the Brumbies, the Chiefs are heading to Sydney with big guns Cane, Brodie Retallick, Damian McKenzie and Brad Weber.
REBELS RISING?
The Rebels are hungry, almost impatient, to climb up the ladder.
You do so by occasionally upsetting a Kiwi opponent but the bedrock is always proving yourself top dog against the other Australian sides.
The Queensland Reds took that step a few seasons ago and have a 7-2 record against the other Australian sides across 2022-23 when only the Brumbies have bested them (twice).
The Rebels are a tame 2-6 in local derbies for the same period.
The 34-27 upset of the Waratahs earlier this month was a big step in the right direction but the Reds on Saturday night in Melbourne will be harder again.
The backrow will be a huge battlefield. Brad Wilkin and Richard Hardwick are almost without peer as a jackalling double-act for the Rebels so the bsecne of Hardwick is a blow.
Reds duo Fraser McReight and Liam Wright are adept in that area too.
A Brisbane ABC radio commentator inadvertently stumbled into a ripper of a tag for the Reds backrow.
We’ve all heard the “Pooper” tag to recognise David Pocock and Michael Hooper as a power couple on the field together.
Well, our commentator miscued with “Harry Wreight” or at least that’s how we will spell it as an easy handle for Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight and Liam Wright as a triple treat.
DON’T IGNORE BRISBANE
The jousting to host a coveted Test and the proposed ANZAC XV tour game during the British and Irish Lions tour in 2025 is on in earnest.
We can probably all see the merit to Sydney and Melbourne being locked in for two of the three Tests because of the size of the venues available. The 60,000-seat Optus Stadium in Perth is in the hunt too.
The debate about Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium hosting a Test ranges from reasonable to absurd to dangerous “shrinking thinking”.
We all understand Rugby Australia canvassing the country to find out what each of the State Governments and tourism authorities are prepared to pay to host a Test.
Sure, Adelaide has a great venue but to even be in the same conversation as Brisbane is crazy.
Stage a Lions Test in Adelaide and you might gain a small cluster of curious new kids to the game. Don’t play a Lions Test in Brisbane and you risk losing the inspiration for a whole generation already playing the game in one of rugby’s true heartlands.
Brisbane doesn’t host a Test this year because of the truncated home season for the Wallabies. If that is exacerbated by no Lions Test in 2025, it’s a sellout by the code with no foresight at all.
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
:laughing:
1997 Brumbies
Roar Rookie
Since when did Kiwis have such arrogance as think the only way of thinking is their way. Oh wait...
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
Not often they fail to read things so badly
Wizz
Roar Rookie
Yes ball running jackals.Wilkin and Wright for 6 and 7.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Very true Jim… :thumbup:
woodart
Roar Rookie
no, spreading the great game right around the country is a no-brainer
woodart
Roar Rookie
not at all. the overseas eyes will still be looking, and those tests will still be sold out. what else do you expect, street parades?
Jim Tucker
Expert
There are few perfect solutions. The 2013 tour outside the Tests was ruined by the ridiculous stand down of Wallabies weeks out from a Test. A full-strength Qld Reds might well have knocked off the Lions. A severely under-strength one with Quade Cooper nearly did. The ANZAC concept done well has merit because a rare occasion to see Aust and NZ players together has appeal. The ANZAC link is a respectful link. Alternatively, the Pacific Island XV is being discussed as a possibility too
Jim Tucker
Expert
Well said.
Jim Tucker
Expert
Unfortunately, it's not like the Test cricket where you do rotate to Bellerive Oval. Rugby Tests are huge drivers of the game in the heartland cities of Sydney-Brisbane and should always be. Go invisible, go Hobart and Adelaide during a big series.
Jim Tucker
Expert
Actually, I'm all for a Test close to an Original Coopers Ale House and a giant schnitzel. The venue was elite after the Wallabies knocked off the Boks in Adelaide last year. Wait...maybe that was because the Pumas knocked off the ABs too while at a table of Kiwis and Argentinians. Great night.
Jim Tucker
Expert
True except the snowball of a Lions Test is to get kiddies interested in the fanfare and the playing of the game. Picking up five extra kids in SA compared to keeping 500 in Brisbane is a no-brainer.
Jim Tucker
Expert
If Super Rugby Pacific is so super you can't have a handicap event when the best Aussie team meets the best Kiwi side. Some rotation, sure, not mass. Take your point, it's a credit to the Brumbies that they always build such a strong group in Canberra with minimal Canberra talent.
Jim Tucker
Expert
Brumbies played well at times for sure
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Appreciate detailed response. I'd rather have no Lions game than an ANZAC / Lions, a cynical money grab that will deprive an Oz SR team of a Lions match as their calendar so tight.
Jim Tucker
Expert
Haha. I'm totally transparent. I want one Test where I can drive 12 minutes to the stadium. The one thing not mentioned is...the Wallabies win at Suncorp.
Jim Tucker
Expert
I'd suggest a free Bundy and coke as you enter the ground to fuel the fans to crazy levels. Nothing for those in red Lions threads.
Jim Tucker
Expert
There is definitely that case. Reimer, Scott and Brown have all played some strong SR so bringing on the depth is valid for sure.
Jim Tucker
Expert
It's the mass omissions people have a right to be a bit upset about. Rotation generally has given the likes of Ryan Lonergan a platform to show he's a Wallaby-quality halfback.
Jim Tucker
Expert
The ANZAC XV game was the last game of the 1989 tour, after the Tests. That is no longer relevant. It must be played early as a tour game to avoid the All Blacks v France series. Perth makes sense and that Albany link is well raised. Diggers attended the after-match dinner in 1989 and made the function.