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At the start of the season, the hopes and dreams of Australian rugby surely lie with the Brumbies… again. Will any other step up and be a contender for the year or are we just in for another season of underwhelming Australian Super Rugby? After this scrap, the answer is still “Yes”. Here’s to hoping that won’t be the case the whole season.

The Brumbies started like a house on fire with some intensity and crisp passing. It wasn’t without flaws, but the intent was definitely there. As for the Reds there wasn’t too much to get excited about at the start until Henry Speight went over for the first try.

After that, the contest started coming alive and it wasn’t just the Brumbies show anymore.

There was nothing in the scrums with dominance swinging from one team to another frequently. The most worrying thing for these teams would be that they didn’t have stable scrums at all. When they face up to the well organized set phases of the New Zealand and South African teams, they will be in a world of hurt.

A change in mindset is however needed desperately for the Australian teams. They have enough in terms of good athletes that display decent skills. They lack creativity and conviction in their game. It is more a case of hoping that a play will come off than the 100% belief that it would.

The Reds deserved their hard-fought 17-7 advantage going into the shed at half-time.

Both teams throughout the game were guilty of not respecting their possession at times. I completely lost count of all the turnovers there would be between stoppages. It must have been one of the highest volumes of turnover in a Super Rugby game EVER!

The Reds showed that if they go through phases that they have enough to get over the line. For both teams, the turnovers were killing them and it became clear very quickly that the result might be a toss-up in the end rather than the result of one team dominating.

But that error count to go with the turnovers doesn’t belong in Super Rugby. The most basic mistakes were being made repeatedly and neither team was able to adapt and recover from it.

Brumbies

Never underestimate the difference a good #9 can make. You want endless energy in distribution and accurate box kicking. If you add the organized violence of a loosehead like Scott Sio, things will get interesting. It was however short-lived…

Throughout the contest, the Brumbies backline looked like the more threatening force. The ex-Brumbies talisman, Speight, was on the left-wing for the Reds, but they didn’t miss him… until he sliced open their defense around the 17th minute.

Reds

It took them just over 15 minutes to wake up. Up to that point they were defending non-stop and it looked like a Brumbies blowout was on the cards. Then Henry Speight showed his genius. Only when you watch the replay can you see how well he sums up the defense, picks his spot and gets over the line.

As the first half progressed they started getting in the game more and more through pressure from their forwards mainly. Their backline however still lacked any real firepower.

Credit should be given to them for taking the points on offer and being sensible in their approach. It wasn’t spectacular n the first half, but they steadily increased their work rate and accuracy as the game wore on.

Their try just before half-time was incredibly well worked. It went through 16 phases for a mere 21 meter gain before Bryce Hegarty ran into acres of space. All credit to the forwards for sucking in the Brumbies defenders.

Liam Wright put in a huge shift on the openside and was a force over the ball at ruck time.

Outstanding players

Brumbies: Scott Sio (1), Joe Powell (9), Tom Banks (15)

Reds: Taniela Tupou (3), Liam Wright (7), Henry Speight (11), Bryce Hegarty (15)

ThysRugby man of the match: The turnovers… followed by Joe Powell

Plays of the game

• Henry Speights timing and vision in identifying the gap on an inside shoulder and going over for the first Reds try under the polls… with not a hand on him
• The Reds team try just before half-time. Going through 16 phases for 21 meters to get over the line takes patience and concentration.

Final verdict

Brumbies: Started with great promise, but faded in the last 20 minutes of the first half. They had the opportunity to turn the screw on the Reds, but missed out.

If they want to claim anything except the not-so-spectacular “best in Australia” crown, they would need to play rugby for more than 30% of the game.

Reds: They looked completely out of sorts at the start of the first half, but looks can be deceiving. It is the first game of Super Rugby for the year and clearly they just needed to get into the swing of things. Definitely the better team during the first half.

They were not expected by many to put up any resistance but were a surprise package throughout. They will be pushing the Brumbies hard the whole season probably.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The game didn’t start the way you would think. It was all Blues for the first 15 minutes. They were running at the Chiefs relentlessly at the Chiefs and with a tackle count of over 50 from the Chiefs, the wall had to break…

At 19-5 down at half-time, no one saw any signs of it ending 29-34 in favor of the Chiefs.

It was just once again a stark reminder of what New Zealand rugby has to offer. Although their players are on par with many globally in terms of their physicality, they stand out in their levels of rugby IQ. The coaching staff makes the hard decisions and the players react decisively to what is needed in any situation. Gives me goosebumps to watch!

The Chiefs started uncharacteristically sloppy and looked completely out of sorts. Not the team you have seen over the past decade. The Blues were however a picture of discipline and accuracy. There was never any doubting their talents, but there was always something missing. Has Leon McDonald found the missing recipe for Blues success?

In his way was the legend of legends Warren Gatland. The New Zealander returning to the land of the silver fern after turning Wales into a global rugby force. Who was going to have the last laugh on the day?

It was clear from the start that this wouldn’t be your average derby that the Chiefs would just go on to win in the end. The Blues vs Chiefs game has rarely looked this good in recent years.

The first 2 tries from the Blues came from total dominance in just about all aspects of the game. This despite their lineouts looking like amateur hour.

The Chiefs first try from the driving maul was however a thing of beauty. The minutes leading up to it were the first where the Chiefs actually put together some phases.

Few people would have bet on a 19-5 half-time score in favor of the Blues!

What a difference Aaron Cruden and Anton Lienert-Brown made coming off the bench at half-time!

The Chiefs made the fatal mistake of thinking there is something like an easier game in Super Rugby. All credit to their coaching staff for making the right decision in getting them on immediately at half-time. It was also not Sam Cane’s day and it was good to get him off the park.

Things however changed into a real game with those 2 substitutes and in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, they ran in two tries to get the score to 19-19.

The new-look Blues

Focus to go with the talent that was always there. Their first-half performance was a thing of beauty. They dominated almost every aspect of the game and it was something to behold. The only negative in the first half was their lineouts that were rubbish.

In the first 15 minutes of the second half, they just couldn’t get their hands on the ball and it was all Chiefs. When they finally did, they had a decent lineout, followed by multiple phases and everyone’s favorite NZ prop, Karl Tu’inukuafe going over after another quick ruck. He was looking a lot leaner and fitter than he had been in the previous two seasons!

The Blues benefited from replacing Ruru with Sam Nock as well. He was much sharper with his play off the base of the rucks. He also really put pressure on the opposition around crums forcing bad ball and turnovers.

The kicking of Stephen Perofeta at goal was not what it should have been and he left some points out there. Apart from that if you get a performance like that from a 22-year old flyhalf in the first game of the season… things should turn out well.

The hot and cold Chiefs

There was almost nothing to get excited about from the Chiefs in the first half. Their defense held up really well in the bombardment of the first 15 minutes. This was capped at the end of the half by their well worked driving maul getting them 5 points.

That good work was however undone by being dominated in the scrum shortly after and letting in Ioane for his 2nd try shortly after.

When Anton Lienert-Brown came in at inside centre suddenly Quinn Tupaea also started looking the part! His break through the defense about 10 minutes into the 2nd half was a thing of beauty and led to their 2nd try by substitute Pita Sowakula.

Outstanding players

Blues: Tom Robinson (5), Tony Lamborn (7), Hoskins Sotutu (8), Rieko Ioane (11), Mark Telea (14), Matt Duffie (15), Karl Tu’inukuafe (17), Sam Nock (21)

Chiefs: Lachlan Boshier (6), Aaron Cruden (22), Anton Lienert-Brown (23), Quin Tupaea (13)

ThysRugby man of the match: It would have been Tony Lamborn with 100% Beast Mode! Then Aaron Cruden came on.

Plays of the game

• The 47 tackles the Chiefs made in the first 9 minutes keeping the Blues scoreless (the Blues only made 2 in the same time)
• Tony Lamborn running the match with his running, tackling, ruck work, try, kick down the touchline
• Brilliantly worked Rieko Ioane try bringing him in from the blindside. He scored it, but it was the manipulation of the defense by the centres running without the ball that created the space
• Blues scrum just before half-time on the Chiefs 22 where they OBLITERATED the Chiefs on their own scrum resulting in a penalty and the 2nd Rieko Ioane try
• Chiefs coaching staff’s decision to pull Sam Cane and bring on two Chiefs legends in Aaron Cruden and Anton Lienert-Brown

Final verdict

Blues: I hope that the Blues team that pitched up for this game, stays around for the rest of the season! What a great team to watch. If they stick to this work rate and focus, they will be in the mix with the Hurricanes and Crusaders when we come to the end of the season.

They dominated the first half! When they turned the Chiefs stepped up rather than them not performing. Their defensive efforts should have been a lot better in the 2nd half though. They let in a flurry of tries from the Chiefs that could have been prevented with better defensive alignment.

Chiefs: Sadly they were a little stale. There were a number of players that didn’t fire (most notably captain Sam Cane). When the changes were wrung at halftime things started changing for the better. Aaron Cruden is just quality through and through. If Damian McKenzie joins from 15, then things might get interesting.

The error in judgment of starting with a weaker side was a bad one. Hopefully, the team we saw in the 2nd half is the one we will see going forward. The great news for them is that they have Warren Gatland calling the shots from the coaching box. Could they ask for any better?

Lots of work for them over the next few weeks on the training pitch though.

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A dramatic win for the Bulls and a far more entertaining game than the Sharks vs Stormers game. Not without its mistakes though…

The TMO was slightly controversion in the Sharks vs Stormers game and it could have resulted in 2 tries for the Sharks. In this game however the decision to award the 2nd Duncan Matthews try could have changed the outcome as well. It was unclear if Jamba Ulengo’s foot was in touch, but the touch judge had his flag up for a while.

Hopefully, there are not too many such decisions throughout the season in Super Rugby.

My initial thought was that the Sharks and Stormers would be the leading teams, but on the evidence of this game, the Bulls and Lions look to be the better teams.

The Bulls created more than we are used to

When you think about the Bulls you don’t think about creativity. You think about the relentless bullying of opposition teams into submission.

There were glimpses of it in 2019, but a lot of it in this first outing of the season. To be very honest there were a huge number of mistakes throughout the game as well by the Bulls, but you could clearly see the intent. By creating enough opportunities and sticking to their game plan, they were able turn over a 7-21 deficit.

The New Zeeland Super Rugby franchises have been doing it for years. They create far more opportunities and despite the error rates, they convert enough of the opportunities. If the Bulls can eliminate a higher percentage of errors, we are in for an interesting ride.

The Bulls looked after their main facets fairly well making sure that they had strong scrums, efficient lineouts and fast work at breakdowns. Okay, so their lineouts weren’t vintage Bulls quality, but still effective enough.

The effectiveness in these phases and recycling the ball at the pace that you normally see the Lions doing it at, gave their backline a lot of ball to experiment with.

Morne Steyn was very effective in many ways and a far cry from the pragmatic flyhalf we knew a few years ago. He was a lot more creative and set up loads of play around him. The altitude messed a bit with his kicking at times, but you could see the intent.

His main effective partners in crime was Cornal Hendricks and Manie Libbok. The two of them really added an extra dimension to the game, which made for great watching.

So what did the Lions do wrong?

Not much really. In almost everything they did, they were effective but were more error-prone.

There were two things that I think they could have improved on and which I know they will throughout the season:

1. Their accuracy at rucks – there were a couple of occasions where they were bullied off the ball. To go with this they had a few ruck penalties that went against them
2. Speeding up the ball and creativity – they were a lot more conservative in the way they played. It is not the way they play rugby and they are not great at it

This isn’t the normal way they play and they shouldn’t change their style for anyone. It will however come back during the season. You can still see it in the players and we are really looking forward to it.

Earlier on I was singing the praises of the Bulls #10, but you can’t overlook the impact that Jantjies had. He looked well-rested and focused on the job at hand. He had a couple of great touches throughout the game. I do hope that he stays injury-free and that his confidence keeps growing.

You only need to look at the thinking around the Jantjies cross-kick to Skosan for the try. THAT is Lions rugby. We want more of that.

Outstanding players

Bulls: Morne Steyn, Jaco Visagie, Cornal Hendricks, Simphiwe Matanzima, Jeandre Kruger, Manie Libbok

Lions: Elton Jantjies, Duncan Matthews,  Marnus Schoeman, Andre Warner

ThysRugby man of the match: Elton Jantjies (with an honorable mention for Morne Steyn

Plays of the game

• The creativity of the Bulls. I know it is not a play, but came as enough of a shock that it had to get a mention
• Duncan Matthews 2.0. At the Bulls, he showed that he is a good player, but he would not have reached his full potential. At the Lions, they have something else in the water that allows players to really become all they can be. His two tries were well worked and well deserved
• The Jantjies cross-kick to Courtnall Skosan for the try. A thing of beauty!

Final Verdict

Bulls: A decent 7.5/10. They surprised with their creativity and deserved the come-from-behind win. If they can reduce the number of mistakes this might be a far better season than I hoped for!

Lions: 7/10. There was really not much in it and they look good overall. They need to go back to the Lions rugby that we have grown to love over the past few seasons. That is their winning recipe and what makes them one of the most dangerous teams in Super Rugby. THAT style of play makes them as dangerous as the Hurricanes in full flight.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Stormers winning this one should not be seen as the rise of a great Stormers team. They were extremely lucky to come away with a sloppy 21-19 win. There were two tries disallowed for the Sharks, which could just as well have been given by another TMO.

If you look at the scoreboard, you will think that the Stormers were the better team, but far from it. Two of their tries were huge opportunistic tries with a slip in defense to let Herschel break free for his first try and then the intercept. Their last try was well deserved.

As far as the Sharks are concerned they showed that they don’t just have a core squad who can deliver the goods, but the whole bench was up for the challenge as well. They were terribly unfortunate to have their two tries disallowed.

The first could have gone either way, but my opinion is that there wasn’t a complete separation between hand and ball. The player that Ox Nche took out was not a realistic tackler either. It was Wilco Louw up against a stepping Fassi. He would have never pulled off the tackle

Stormers dominated in every aspect

From the first scrum the Stormers were dominated and were struggling. Their only facet that worked was their lineouts where they were getting the ball to their jumpers. The problem was that they could not get one decent mall going and were pushed back repeatedly by the Sharks. Once it was with 4 Sharks defenders against a pack of 8 Stormers.

At ruck time they were too slow and turned over a couple of balls. At times they were aggressive at rucks, but only in response to Sharks coming in aggressively.

When Wilco Louw came on 2nd half he was able to help stabilize the scrum a little and the Stormers were able to put together a few phases from around the 60th minute.

Had they played against any other team and they weren’t as lucky with the TMO, they would have been slaughtered.

Chemistry was lacking, defense was slow, handling was questionable at best and they struggled immensely to identify opportunities.

It sounds harsh, but I am not sure exactly what they did during their off-season.

Sharks show promise – about 70% there

The Sharks looked like they are ready for a full Super Rugby season. They were not the complete package and made a few silly mistakes along the way. Their mistakes are much easier to address however than those of the Stormers.

Despite his two kicks that went too long, Curwin Bosch looked impressive. I am really looking forward to what he can do with that monster boot of his as well as his creative play during Super Rugby (and hopefully in a green and gold jersey).

At scrum time they killed the Stormers for the first 60 minutes and at lineouts they were the better team by far.

In their pack they felt the absence of the du Preez twins, but there were a few players that definitely put up their hands. Despite the stupid interference from Ox to deny Fassi his try, he was a rockstar throughout. Thomas du Toit also clearly showed that it would be exceptionally difficult to keep him out of the Springboks team later in the year

It was however the unknown Le Roux Roets at lock that impressed me the most. There is a lot of power there and some good hard work. What is lacking at the moment is a bit more conditioning as well as Super Rugby experience.

In the backline I couldn’t leave a name out as they were literally contributing from 9 through to 15. Louis Schreuder was the better true 9 on the park, Curwin Bosch overshadowed Willemse. The two centres had an understanding and creative side to them that looks like it is on the verge of going to a whole new level.

The most impressive out of the backline was however Fassi. He was never caught out of position fielding kicks at the back, so he looked after the basics. He joined the line effectively however and that individual (almost) try was something else. Some glimpses of Jordie Barrett.

The power of Sbu Nkosi for his (almost) try was also a thing of beauty

Players of the game

Stormers: Steven Kitshoff (1), Siya Kolisi (8)

Sharks: Ox Nche (1), Thomas du Toit (3), Le Roux Roets(4), Louis Schreuder (9),  Curwin Bosch(10), Sbu Nkosi (14), Aphelele Fassi (15), Lukhanyo Am (13), Andre Esterhuizen (12)

ThysRugby man of the match: Curwin Bosch

Plays of the game

They all belonged to the Sharks!

• Louis Schreuder making Jantjies throw a pass over dead-ball line
• Sbu Nkosi’s (almost)try on blindside OVER the opposition
• Aphelele Fassi’s (almost) try was a piece of individual brilliance!
  

Final verdict

Stormers: 3/10. Despite their win, there was very little to get excited about. There will have to be an amazing amount of work done over the next weeks to make sure that they don’t get humiliated by the Hurricanes.

Sharks: 7/10. Despite their loss, they were the better team on the field by far. A lot more of what they intended to do worked out perfectly.