Super Rugby AU: Five Talking Points from Round 6
Waratahs captain Michael Hooper proudly displays the Bob Templeton Cup after the win over the Reds
Credit: Getty Images
If last week was the week when the runners and riders separated in Super Rugby AU, this is the week the riders reeled them back in.
The previously unbeaten Brumbies had their lead at the top of the competition slashed to one point as they fell victim to a first-half ambush at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney.
Across the city at the Sydney Cricket Ground, it was the struggling Waratahs that pulled out the first half of their dreams to crush bitter rivals the Reds 45-12 and put their name back into consideration for a shot at the belt.
With seven competition points now separating first and fourth with four rounds to go, this competition is far from done.
Here are the talking points from an enthralling Round 6 in Super Rugby AU.
Gordon inspires Waratahs to desperately-needed statement win
The Waratahs absolutely tore the Reds apart at the SCG on Saturday night, with the men in blue coming into the game in desperate need of something to smile about after a dismal first half of the competition.
This parish said in its review after their last match, an absolute humbling at the hands of the Rebels, that the Tahs had serious work to do in their Round 5 bye week.
Well, it looks like they did it.
Inspired by a maestro attacking performance from scrumhalf Jake Gordon, who scored a first-half hat trick as well as compiling four clean breaks while making 54 metres from seven runs, the Tahs young backline shredded their more fancied counterparts for what would ultimately become a 45-12 victory.
Gordon’s stellar performance prompted a comparison to Irish and Lions legend Conor Murray after the match from his coach
He showed well and truly that he is ready to step up into the jersey that was promised him after the departure of Nick Phipps.
Jake Gordon dives over for one of his three tries against the Reds
Credit: Mick Tsikas/PA Images
Jack Maddocks is proving a saving grace in a tough season for the men in blue at the back, racking up 86 metres and three clean breaks of his own, and their talented wingers Alex Newsome and young tyro James Ramm had field days on their respective edges.
However, the platform was laid by some massive forward work too, with Number 8 Jack Dempsey racking up 15 runs and 53 metres alongside seven tackles while lock Tom Staniforth led his team’s tackle count with 13.
Will Harrison also had a perfect night with the boot and looks to be forming a real understanding with the more experienced playmaker Karmichael Hunt, who had one of his best performances in a blue jersey.
James O’Connor’s try after the siren might well have been a point of annoyance for coach Rob Penney as his side failed to defend their final set, but it is easier to forgive when you’ve been so dominant for the preceding 80 minutes.
The challenge for the Waratahs now is to take that level of performance into next week’s game against the Force and beyond, to prove to the competition that it was not just a flash in the pan and that they can make a real assault on this title.
Reds come unstuck to receive biggest defeat v Tahs in Super Rugby history
Reds winger Filipo Daugunu can only watch on as Alex Newsome scores a try for the Waratahs
Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
The Reds won many plaudits from The Flanker throughout the first half of the competition, due in no small part to the performances of their elite back row and the form of Tate McDermott and James O’Connor at halfback.
However, all those wheels came off the wagon in style as the Waratahs ambushed them in the first half and ultimately recorded what was the Reds’ biggest ever Super Rugby defeat against their bitter rivals.
In fairness to the Reds, they never really had a chance to get into the game as they found themselves pretty much on the back foot from the word go.
The manner of the tries they conceded, especially a simple lack of concentration that allowed Gordon to score almost untouched from a five-metre tap, will have had some expletives sounding from the coaches’ box.
The concession of 18 penalties will have infuriated head coach Brad Thorn, as will a success rate of only 66 percent in the lineout.
They also conceded 19 total turnovers in the game - far too many in anyone’s eyes.
Ultimately, they gave the Waratahs far too much cheap ball and the Tahs were in a mood that was not going to let those kinds of errors go unpunished.
Enjoying only 41% of possession and 34% of territory tells enough of a story in it’s own right.
However, let’s see the bigger picture - plenty of their stats, including their tackle success rate, actually outstripped the Tahs on the night.
There was evidence of growth, as the combination between McDermott and O’Connor perfectly demonstrated in the final try after the siren.
It was a chastening night from the men in maroon, but it might be fair just to put it down to one of those nights and watch them come back stronger next week, which they undoubtedly will do if Thorn has anything to say about it.
Rebels rise to the challenge and show clinical edge in downing unbeaten leaders
The Rebels put 30 points on the Brumbies on Friday night to make a serious statement
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A few weeks ago, The Flanker challenged the Rebels after their dominant win over the Waratahs to show more consistency and prove they were a real threat in Super Rugby AU.
Well, as they closed out their third straight win in the competition, it is fair to say they might have just done that.
The Melbourne outfit have not lost since a battling Round 1 defeat to the Brumbies, and they took to the field in the return fixture at their new home of Leichhardt Oval looking to set the record straight - and didn’t they half do that.
A superlative first half, in the style that would be mirrored by the Waratahs the following night across the city, set the platform for them to record a 30-12 win that brought them to within one win of the competition leaders and well and truly opened the title race back up.
Early tries to Reece Hodge and Brad Wilkin, with a Brumbies response from Joe Powell, left the game poised delicately at 12-7 after 20 minutes but the second quarter was where the Rebels took control.
A second try to Hodge and one for Jordan Uelese, as well as a conversion and penalty from the boot of Matt Toomua, put the game effectively beyond the Brumbies.
Isi Naisarani’s team-high 66 metres from 16 carries and ten tackles capped an enormous individual performance from the man in prime position to challenge Reds upstart Harry Wilson for the Wallabies' 8 jersey.
Toomua showed grit on top of his undoubted class by racking up 12 tackles as well as laying on a try for Hodge with a lovely short kicking game.
While they were fortunate to get past the Force last week, this time around the Rebels were anything but and have well and truly put down a marker to the rest of the competition saying they are ready to compete at the top.
Not many teams will keep the Brumbies to 37% possession and 35% territory, after all.
Humbled Brumbies still in box seat
They may have suffered a chastening defeat in Sydney at the weekend but it’s worth looking over to New Zealand for a reminder of the fact that the Brumbies are still very much in the driving seat in Super Rugby AU.
When the Crusaders’ winning streak was snapped by the Hurricanes, it sent shockwaves around the competition, with many wondering whether the spell had worn off and the Christchurch outfit would be run down.
Not a bit of it - the Crusaders have already claimed the title with a round to spare after bouncing back and recovering their form.
The Brumbies are more than capable of doing the same thing, with the second fixture against their nearest challengers now out of the way.
They still hold a four-point lead at the top of the competition and remain the heavy favourites to take out the title.
Yes, they could have been much further back had they not been able to dig themselves out of holes (or had the opposition pretty much give them a ladder) against the Reds and Waratahs in the first half of the fixtures, but that is what good teams do - they find ways to win.
They couldn’t do it here, but they fell victim to the Rebels’ best 40 minutes of footy all season - and even then some of the stats should give them some hope.
Their 91% tackle success rate was higher than that returned by the Rebels, and they conceded two less penalties.
These may be worrying statistics when viewed a certain way given they still didn’t come away with the chocolates, but head coach Dan McKellar may well take the standpoint that these problems were their own making, and ones that they can control and work on.
Plus, if push comes to shove (pun intended), they always have that incredible driving maul to fall back on. They will have to do better than 76% lineout success to make the most of it but it’s still a weapon that could spell disaster as this competition goes on.
Who said fun was dead in sport?
Jack Dempsey carries against the Reds
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Now, we know here at The Flanker that the days have passed where sports stars would be out on the beers well into the night and that professionalism has altered that aspect of the game.
However, what this weekend in Super Rugby AU did briefly do is to remind us there is still room for the larrakins of the world in sport, and particularly in rugby.
Step forward, Jack Dempsey.
We have already talked about how the Waratahs Number 8 had a huge game overall against the Reds on Saturday night, but he still found time in his busy carrying schedule to lay down some schoolyard justice on Reds lock Angus Blyth.
As a friendly coming-together between the two teams petered out, Dempsey spied his opportunity and launched a classic atomic wedgie on the big lock forward that was smartly picked up by the TV cameras.
Take a look - it’s worth it.
One has to give Blyth some credit for seeing the funny side of the whole thing, which is definitely the way it was intended, but you’ve got to love some old-fashioned childish behaviour on a footy field.
In an age when sport is pretty serious business, I think it’s good for all of us to be reminded that the larrakins and personalities of the game make it what it is.
There’s a reason the Honey Badger is still remembered so fondly in the rugby world, after all, and you can pretty well bet it wasn’t for his prowess under the high ball.
