1. The weekend that saw the arrival of Super Rugby Pacific. Rugby has its challenges, and we certainly love to talk about those. COVID-19 also exacerbated the difficulties facing administrators – it’s been a rough year to launch a new competition, especially on a limited marketing budget. However, the one thing that would really kill Super Rugby Pacific – and I mean stone-dead – is a sense of predictability. This weekend was anything but.
In the first five games, the biggest winning margin was four points. In other words, every game was winnable or loseable until the final seconds, thanks largely to an improvement of the Australian sides, highlighted by the Brumbies’ outstanding 42-25 win over the Hurricanes.
Throw in the sight of a 15,000-strong crowd in Suva – the best recruitment tool the Drua will ever have for the many brilliant Fijians currently overseas – and Super Rugby Pacific looked like a product that fans, broadcasters and potential investors could really get into. I am counting down the days to round 12, because I don’t know who is going to win.
2. Tane must stay, Pt II:
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said the quiet bit out loud last week on the thorny issue of centralisation – I’m surprised it has slipped under the radar. Speaking to Stan Sport in the build-up to the Waratahs-Chiefs game (and before Will Harrison’s serious knee injury), Rennie talked up all three young Waratahs playmakers, but said “we” might need to move one to another club to get them more game time.
This would be the “Irish” model of centralisation – the ability to move players around at the bidding of the national body. But there is a strong counterargument – the Bernard Foley case study. At one stage, Foley looked like he would join the Rebels – a move that had the blessing of then Wallabies coach Robbie Deans. But Foley stayed at NSW, fought for the No.10 jersey, and then led the Waratahs to a title in 2014 and the Wallabies to a Rugby World Cup final in 2015.
Tane Edmed talking with Morgan TurinuiCredit:Stan Sport
Frankly, I don’t think the Wallabies would have made the 2015 decider without a form No.10 like Foley, and Foley may not have been that player had he gone to the Rebels. We’ve argued in these pages before that young Waratahs No.10 Tane Edmed should stay in Sydney, and after the win against the Crusaders on Saturday, that case is stronger.
3. Hype is not helping Fraser McReight. Australia loves nothing more than a debate about Wallabies No 7s, particularly if it has a NSW-Queensland angle. But is there actually a genuine, bona fide debate between McReight and Michael Hooper? Not for mine.
Unpredictability breathes life into new competition as Australian sides rise
Source: Philippines Alive
