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Tuesday, July 05, 2011 - 1:30 PM
Source: BigPond Sport
By Barnaby Smith
After a few years of Australian teams underperforming, administrational squabbling and too many ridiculous basketball-like scorelines, 2011 has been a landmark year for Super Rugby.
Most exciting has been the new generation at the Queensland Reds emerging as a truly world-class force. We've also had the welcome erosion of aimless tactical kicking.
Above all though, there has been the format. Finally, the tournament has five teams from each nation thanks to the introduction of the Melbourne Rebels.
But this has inevitably brought about problems. On several occasions we heard complaints from New Zealand and particularly South Africa about the weakness of Australian franchises the Rebels and the Western Force. And although no one expected them to go quite as badly as they did, you can add the Brumbies to that list too.
The argument was that with the increase in ‘local derbies' thanks to the conference system, the Waratahs and Reds would pick up easy points against this sub-standard trio, while teams in South Africa and New Zealand would slog it out in conferences that were of a higher standard, with consistently tougher opposition.
So is their moaning justified?
In the case of the Waratahs, probably yes. When the wheels fell off their campaign, they lost games to the Cheetahs, Blues, Crusaders, Bulls and Sharks, as well as the Reds.
But of their eight matches against Australian teams, they won seven of them, and it was the points picked up from these games that propelled them into the finals. Had they been forced to take on South Africa or New Zealand provinces more often, a truer gauge of their quality might have been found, and it would probably not have been flattering.
On the other hand, the cries from South Africa and New Zealand are certainly not applicable to the table-topping Reds. Two of their three losses were actually to Australian teams (the Waratahs and Brumbies), while they managed the exceptional feat of a 100 per cent record on their tour to South Africa.
They also beat the Blues, Crusaders and Bulls - their season was hardly based on leg-ups because of the inferiority of their Australian opponents. The Reds were the real deal in 2011.
And a word in defence of those maligned Australian franchises: the Force are probably the most unlucky side in the comp, and could easily have won games against the Blues, Reds and Hurricanes – and they did beat the Bulls.
With a little more experience in their XV they would have perhaps closed those games out, and despite the loss of James O'Connor for 2012, the Force have much to build on.
The Rebels, meanwhile, won three games, which is not to be sniffed at for a team cobbled together over the off-season and based in a city that probably thinks ‘ruck and maul' is a criminal charge. The signing of Kurtley Beale and O'Connor ensures that exciting times are ahead in Victoria.
The Brumbies, however, have little to look forward to. Something is truly rotten in Canberra.
World Cup watch
Despite the horrific injury list, Wallabies fans should be encouraged by the Super Rugby season heading into the Tri-Nations and World Cup.
Robbie Deans, an astute man, will base his side around the core of the Reds, with Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Digby Ioane, James Horwill and maybe Van Humphries and Scott Higginbotham likely to play crucial roles.
Hopefully the Reds' style of play – one of flexible pragmatism with frequent flashes of outlandish brilliance – will be translated to the Wallabies too.
The sparkling early-season form of James O'Connor means Deans will have to fit him into the starting backline somewhere - ideally closer to the action than the wing, where he excelled for the Wallabies in 2010.
Deans will also be banking on Adam Ashley-Cooper, Rocky Elsom, David Pocock and Matt Giteau compensating for seasons riddled with poor form or injury by performing in the gold jersey.
The stars of Super Rugby 2011
As in any good season of Super Rugby, we have seen a number of new facets to the game introduced by the game's elite.
This season, witness Sonny Bill Williams' offloads, Cooper's unprecedented audacity and the remarkable combination of skill and power that is Kieran Read.
A team of the season would be: Kurtley Beale (Waratahs), Zac Guildford (Crusaders), Sonny Bill Williams (Crusaders), Jacque Fourie (Stormers), Digby Ioane (Reds), Quade Cooper (Reds), Will Genia (Reds), Kieran Read (Crusaders), Scott Higginbotham (Reds), Beau Robinson (Reds), Brad Thorn (Crusaders), Andries Bekker (Stormers), Ben Franks (Crusaders), Keven Mealamu (Blues), Wyatt Crockett (Crusaders).
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of BigPond Sport.
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