It was a tough week for the Australian Super 15 teams in Super Rugby Round 7, with only The Waratahs winning and only four tries between the four teams playing.
The Hurricanes vs Melbourne Rebels
Score: 36-12, Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
It was always going to be a huge task for The Rebels to get anything away from home against the competition’s only undefeated team. The visitors would have been buoyed by the home team’s decision to rest All Blacks Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett and Ben Franks and may well have sensed the chance to grab the most impressive victory in the team’s history when they led 12-10 at half time. However, just four minutes after the interval, Cory Jane went over in the corner to give The Hurricanes a lead and the form side in the competition never looked back, producing a dominant second half performance to eventually run out 36-12 victors.
This Rebels team has changed a lot over the past few years. The team’s management have seemingly made a deliberate shift from the star-studded but disjointed team of a few years ago to the workmanlike, solid team they have now. That philosophy is enough to keep you competitive in most games and is a good foundation to build upon; it wasn’t enough to beat a Hurricanes team that (even without Barrett and Savea) can score in a heartbeat. After a tight, cagey first half in which The Rebels discipline and grit were enough to keep the competition leaders in check (although again their lack of cutting edge meant they had to settle for penalties rather than tries) a second half onslaught left the visitors reeling.
Even when The Rebels were able to get on the front foot after the break, with ten minutes of sustained pressure after The Hurricanes went 24-12 up, they couldn’t make it count, with wave after wave of attack crashing hopelessly against a steely Hurricanes defence. A crunching Motu Matu’u tackle on Mike Harris finally led to a turnover and within three minutes Nehe Milner-Skudder continued his impressive start to the season by crossing for the game-sealing try. He would get another before the end to add gloss to a score-line that flattered The Hurricanes a little, but equally highlighted the difference in attacking potency between the two sides. Ultimately though this isn’t the type of game that will be used to measure the success of The Rebels this season, they have never won more than five games in a season and never finished higher than 12th. However, with the organisation and togetherness this side displayed, even in a comprehensive defeat, both targets feel well within reach.
Queensland Reds vs Emirates Lions
Score: 17-18, Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
For the first time all season The Reds had something resembling their full strength team, with only Rob Simmons, Liam Gill and Karmichael Hunt unavailable. However, they were still unable to overcome an improving Lions team, losing 17-18 after Quade Cooper had a last minute drop goal attempt charged down. This was their fourth consecutive defeat and all but eliminates them from playoff contention after just six games, while they also have the worst points differential in the competition.
After going up 3-0 early on after a high tackle, The Reds struggled to move the ball against a well organised Lions defence, with much of the play only further illuminating the fact that this is a team that has barely trained with each other, let alone have the kind of understanding and cohesion that The Lions displayed throughout the majority of the game. That 3-0 lead became a 15-3 deficit shortly after half-time and it wasn’t until that point that The Reds starting to show anything even remotely resembling their 2011 heyday. They got back into the game quickly with a penalty try in the 52nd minute closing the gap to eight before a long period of sustained pressure failed to yield anything for the home side. They wouldn’t score again until the 68th minute when their best piece of execution of the game; a slick backs move off the back of a scrum, led to Samu Kerevi crashing over a few phases later. In a fashion that has come to define their season though, The Reds let that lead slip shortly afterwards, with Ben Tapuai clumsily giving away a penalty right in front of the posts. This gave The Lions a narrow 18-17 lead they wouldn’t relinquish, with the game ending after the aforementioned drop goal attempt.
In a round that didn’t have any truly marquee matchups, this was a game that received quite a bit of attention due to the returning Reds stars. However, the time away showed, particularly for Quade Cooper, who was unable to really get comfortable against a hardworking Lions defence. In The Reds glory days one of their defining characteristics was the clarity and precision with which they attacked. Despite Cooper being nominally cast as the team’s leader due to the number on his back, it was really Will Genia who ran the team, with forwards and backs alike running lines off the scrum half, allowing him to showcase his outstanding running game and decision making. This in turn would take pressure off Cooper, whose mercurial talents were usually only called upon in situations that allowed him to flourish. When that combination works well, you can put almost any collection of players around them in the world and they will look fantastic. However, on Friday the balance was off, with too much of the tempo-setting duty falling on Cooper’s shoulders. This meant Genia was essentially left to simply pass the ball from the back of an often unstable breakdown area, a great waste of such a talented runner. In addition, players running off Cooper often didn’t give him enough options, with the lack of a support player inside the fly half meaning that his own running options were limited, as the defence was simply able to focus on him alone. There were a few promising flashes, with the potential use of James O’Connor as a secondary playmaker off Cooper (and the link up play that could then inspire) a tantalising prospect, but against The Lions there was never enough front foot ball to truly show off that combination. That is where Genia really can make an impact, with his ability to generate go-forward out of almost nothing (if given one or two support players to work with), hopefully producing that front foot ball for those two in the coming weeks. However, it may be too little too late for a team that just can’t seem to get it together.
In the forwards, The Reds were outplayed for the most part, with the absence of Liam Gill in particular coming back to haunt the Queenslanders. It was The Lions mobility and work rate in the back row that was perhaps the main difference between the two teams, with Reds flankers Adam Thompson and Curtis Browning both really blindside flankers in their skillsets. Gill’s ability to disrupt and generate turn over ball was sorely missed. In the end though this was a game The Reds should have won, dominating both territory and possession, yet they only led for seven minutes. The lack of match fitness for some of their stars, as well as their lack of cohesion as a team were really their ultimate downfall.
NSW Waratahs vs Auckland Blues
Score: 23-11, Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
After their biggest win (and most impressive performance) of the season against The Brumbies last weekend, you can perhaps forgive The Waratahs some of their sloppiness against a Blues team that still hasn’t recorded a victory. They started quickly with a magnificent set piece move that sent Michael Hooper through a gaping hole and his flat(ish…) pass meant Nick Phipps was able to walk under the posts. It was a very well designed move, with quick lineout ball going from Michael Foley who threw it behind Will Skelton to find Kurtley Beale and his beautifully timed pass behind Israel Folau allowed Hooper to get behind the defence. He was left to simply draw Charles Piutau and give to Phipps, however, it was the flat dummy runs of Skelton and Folau that sucked in Blues defenders and caused huge gaps to appear. That highlights the inherent difficulty of defending The Waratahs from those kinds of situations: with skilled decision makers in Foley and Beale surrounded by players that are nearly impossible to tackle one-on-one like Skelton and Folau, teams often simply don’t have enough men to defend those combinations when they do click.
At the time it felt ominous for The Blues, but they were able to stay in the game mainly due to The Waratahs poor execution and lack of any real rhythm. For most of the game there seemed to be a lack of movement and support around Foley, who as his best can simply pick apart teams with his consistency and accuracy while playing flat to the defence. On too many occasions on Saturday though he was left exposed in attack, forcing him to either take on the line himself, or dump the ball off to a player behind the advantage line. In addition, apart from maybe the Brumbies game, The Waratahs have turned over an unsustainable amount of ball, whether that be through simple unforced knock-ons, or ill-disciplined play around the ruck. It was these kinds of mistakes that let The Blues back into the game and while The Waratahs defence was solid (if a little untested) throughout the contest, The Blues still took an 11-7 lead 55 minutes in. This seemed to alert The Waratahs to the reality that they might actually lose the game and although there reaction still wasn’t championship material, they did put The Blues under enough pressure to force three kickable penalties in quick succession and retake the lead 16-11.
A final flourish and rare show of quality from the home side added some gloss to the score line, a Will Skelton offload leading (via a few more passes) to Peter Betham strolling in to score. The conversion made it 23-11, but Michael Cheika will come away from this game with several issues still unresolved. They haven’t shown the fluency or destructive power that made them basically unstoppable in the second half of the 2014 campaign, but with a bye week coming up and his team occupying the final playoff spot, Cheika will know they are still in a decent position (and have enough time left and quality in the squad) to defend their championship.
Sharks vs Western Force
Score: 15-9, Venue: Growthpoint King’s Park, Durban
Another week, another frustrating loss for The Force, who will now return to Perth with two losing bonus points, rather than the eight they’ll feel they could have had. In a game that The Force dominated in terms of both possession and territory (recording about three quarters of both) errors and lack of a cutting edge around The Sharks line consigned them to just three successful penalties. Their efficiency in attack, mainly using pick and drives or runners off 9 and 10, meant they rarely yielded possession or fell victim to unforced errors, but equally that lack of ambition or guile aided a powerful Sharks pack, who were simply able to defend around the fringes and had enough power to hold The Force at bay. The conditions didn’t help The Force either, with a steady downpour for much of the game meaning they were reluctant to try to stretch a Sharks defence that can often be stretched out wide. Once The Sharks scored their second try to go up 15-6 with just over 10 minutes to go, it really felt like that game was over, a damning indictment on a team that won nine games last year.
They were able to salvage a losing bonus point through another penalty, however, never really felt close to actually crossing The Sharks line. One bright spot for The Force was Kane Koteka, who continues to impress as a ball carrier in attack and all-round nuisance in defence, even with a crowded battle for the backup role behind Michael Hooper at The World Cup, if the 21-year-old can continue the form he’s showed at the start of the season he will at least be part of the discussion. Overall though, this is a team that doesn’t have the star power of the majority of their opponents in this competition and therefore must rely on consistency, togetherness and accuracy in their play to succeed, the issue with that is that when one of those elements falters, it’s very hard to beat quality opposition.
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