It is still early days, but the predictability that hurt the competition last year has all but evaporated in 2024. The biggest winning margin at the weekend was just 10 points, and that came in the Drua’s upset/non-upset win against the Crusaders in Lautoka.
The Hurricanes are the only unbeaten side after three rounds, and there are four Australian teams in the top eight.
With apologies to the 0-3 Crusaders, tournament officials could barely have designed a better start to the competition because fans of each team are now looking one week ahead at the next game with that most precious of commodities: expectation.
That’s the fuel that drives fandom.
You can’t help but wonder if Louis Lynagh would be in Australia with younger brother Tom had Australian rugby been more functional in the past year or so. Hours after Tom played a big role in the Reds’ win against the Chiefs, Louis scored a try on debut as Italy upset Scotland in the Six Nations.
Incidentally, that win for Italy means they will jump above Australia in the World Rugby rankings when they are officially updated on Monday – the Wallabies are now 10th.
Scotland’s Duhan Van Der Merwe is tackled by Italy’s Louis Lynagh.Credit: AP
And to think that a loss to the much-improved Italians was given as the excuse to punt Dave Rennie. Two weeks ago, they drew 13-13 with France and really should have won that Test too.
The match against the Highlanders was always a danger game because the men from Dunedin have improved as much as the Crusaders have regressed. The Highlanders’ backs put together some very accomplished defensive sets in the second half, and the Waratahs only manufactured a bad read after the Highlanders replaced midfielder Tanielu Tele’a with Jonah Lowe, who is a winger by trade.
The Waratahs will face worse defensive units than the Highlanders this season. The Blues will, of course, be a massive challenge for the Waratahs in round four, but they lost in-form fullback Zarn Sullivan to a head injury in their loss to the Hurricanes, and he might not be available.
Besides, the Waratahs have shown enough – Triston Reilly has been a great pick-up – in the outside backs to have a real crack at the Aucklanders.
There’s no doubt the Reds’ replacement front-rowers played a massive role in the win against the Chiefs. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen and Peni Ravai bossed the Chiefs, twice relieving pressure on the Reds with scrum dominance. At the Hurricanes, Toomaga-Allen was known more for his mobility and skills, but his years in the northern hemisphere have clearly added a whole other facet to his play.
But, it’s a collective effort at the Reds because you just can’t replace Taniela Tupou on a like-for-like basis. Tupou and the Reds go head-to-head next week, in what will be a huge scrum contest.
The Rebels bulldozed the previously solid Moana Pasifika set-piece, with Matt Gibbon excelling in the No.1 jersey.
Coach Simon Cron was filthy with his side during the in-game interview at the start of the second half, and with good reason. After controlling the first half against the Brumbies in Canberra, they gave up “two shit penalties” in Cron’s words to give the Brumbies a leg-up, and Harry Potter was sent to the sin-bin.
That’s the second time this season that Potter has been shown a yellow card for clumsily taking someone out in the air, and the Brumbies never looked back after scoring when Potter was on the naughty chair. The Brumbies weren’t firing on all cylinders on Saturday, but you can’t go to Canberra and give away soft penalties like the Force did, and it completely undid a lot of the enterprise they had shown.
Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, kicking off on February 23, with every match ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.
Super Rugby rediscovers a magic ingredient – jeopardy
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10.03.2024
It is still early days, but the predictability that hurt the competition last year has all but evaporated in 2024. The biggest winning margin at the weekend was just 10 points, and that came in the Drua’s upset/non-upset win against the Crusaders in Lautoka.
The Hurricanes are the only unbeaten side after three rounds, and there are four Australian teams in the top eight.
With apologies to the 0-3 Crusaders, tournament officials could barely have designed a better start to the competition because fans of each team are now looking one week ahead at the next game with that most precious of commodities: expectation.
That’s the fuel that drives fandom.
You can’t help but wonder if Louis Lynagh would be in Australia with younger brother Tom had Australian rugby been more functional in the past year or so. Hours after Tom played a big role in the Reds’ win against the Chiefs, Louis scored a try on debut as Italy upset Scotland in the Six........
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