Aussie Super Rugby takes: Waratahs’ clunky attack and Lomax’s secret

Upsets galore. That’s what round-10 Super Rugby Pacific 2026 shall be remembered as.

The Drua rocked the Brumbies in Canberra for only their second away win in their entire existence in the comp. It also meant the Brums lost in consecutive games at home for the first time since 2022.

The Chiefs nabbed a nail-biter at the Cowshed in extra time against the seemingly untouchable Hurricanes, meaning they are now the kings on high, and the Western Force kept the party going well past midnight with a stellar win over the Crusaders in the west.

Elsewhere, the Waratahs did their best in their bonus point win against a very motivated Moana Pasifika, who themselves were coming off a very tough week, and the Blues staved off a determined Highlanders side by only seven points, clinching the Kiwi derby 47-40.

So, with a new batch of rugby games to analyse, here are the takes on the Aussie teams after the latest round.

Waratahs are playing for each other but not together

No beating around the bush for this one, the Waratahs don’t really know each other on the field.

People are regularly scratching their heads as to why Australia’s largest hub of rugby continues to churn out below-par games.

Well, you only need to go down a regular team list and see that none of these blokes have played any meaningful minutes together outside of the seven played so far this season.

Let’s take the weekend’s side, for example, in the front row, Tom Lambert, Ethan Dobbins, and Dan Botha have barely had any live minutes when compared with other combos at the Super level.

In the second row, Miles Amatosero and captain Matt Philip only started to play together late last year.

In the backrow, Pete Samu was at the Brumbies before playing in Bordeaux, Angus Scott-Young was with the Northampton Saints in England after playing with the Queensland Reds, and  Charlie Gamble has been the longest starting Tahs player in the pack.

Halves combinations are crucial, but Jake Gordon and Jack Debreczeni have only had this season together; they didn’t even play for the same clubs in Sydney’s Shute Shield.

Inside centre Lawson Creighton was with the Reds prior to joining Joey Walton, and in the back three, Andrew Kellaway and Max Jorgensen have played a decent amount of rugby together, but Sid Harvey is the new kid on the block.

The examples go on into the reserves, and this is all to say, the Waratahs don’t really know each other.

That’s why the team is clunky despite having Wallabies littered throughout the side. They have the top-end class of a Samu, Gordon, Jorgensen, and the emerging talents of Clem Halaholo and Harvey, but there just isn’t enough connection in the side to make use of all this standout talent.

Ironically, it is the top-shelf class that has kept them ahead of the Western Force and other bottom-five dwellers, but that resource pool won’t be enough come finals.

The Waratahs are fighting the clock and themselves here, but if coach Dan McKellar keeps this team together with an almost unchanged roster for 2027, he could have a highly competitive side.

This is not to say they are out for the count in 2026, but the odds are stacked against them.

Western Force are only just getting started, and that’s the problem

Getting started in round-10 of a 16-round regular season competition, which has two byes in it, is like starting a 100-yard dash after giving everyone else a 50m headstart.

The Force, much like the Waratahs, is a side that lacks a consistent roster, and they don’t have the luxury of having the top-end talent of the Sydney-based franchise.

However, part of their destabilisation this year has actually stemmed from having so many Wallabies in their starting XV, which means that their connection piece is something they’ve had to rekindle during the season.

Now, while it would be too extreme to compare the Force to a storied club like the Crusaders, in essence, the reasons for a slow start are comparable.

Going down the weekend’s team list, you would see Tom Robertson, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Darcy Swain, captain Jeremy Williams, Carlo Tizzano, Nick Champion De Crespigney, Ben Donaldson, and Dylan Pietsch, who all were under some type of Wallabies load management in the pre-season.

That is 8/15 in your starting side, then you throw in the three Argentians: Franco Milina, Augustin Moyano, and Leonel Oviedo, as well as new recruits George Bridge and Zac Lomax and all of a sudden you have 13/15 players who did not complete the entire pre-season.

This is a reason for a slow start, but what the Force have that the Waratahs don’t is minutes played together.

All of those forwards have played at least two seasons together now, and most have played meaningful minutes in Wallabies colours together.

In the backline, most of the regular members, Mac Grealy, Bayley Kuenzel, Hamish Stewart, and Ben Donaldson have played a decent number of games in the same backline in various formations.

All this is to say the Force have and are showing on the points differential chart that their connection counts for something.

The Waratahs, who are in 7th with a four wins, four losses ledger, sit on a PD of -28.

The Force, who sit 10th, on three wins and six losses, are on a PD of -26, whilst the Reds sit on -36 in 5th, with both the Tahs and Reds playing one less game than the Force.

So, yes, the Force can be confident in themselves that they are just getting started, but there is a risk that it may be too late for a finals dash.

In their run to the finals, they have a bye this weekend coming up, followed by Waratahs and Brumbies away on the East coast, followed by three games at home against the Reds, Drua, and Tahs again.

If the Force want to be honest with themselves, they must win four out of the five games to give themselves an earnest shot at the top six.

Unfortunately, their climb must come at the cost of another Aussie side.

Brumbies rollercoaster season set to continue as big guns roll back in

It was awesome to see the Wallaby trio, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, and Tom Wright, back in Brumbies colours together once again.

The long injury layoffs for AAA and Wright, as well as the extended Wallaby rest for Frost, meant the side had to do without for a large chunk of the season, but the Test trio will be warmly welcomed by their teammates and Brumbies fans.

Nevertheless, the trio have been well short of their own regular high standards, and Wright is the most recent member to not quite hit the heights of where he was before his injury.

All this is, of course, coach Stephen Larkham will have expected this teething period for the trio while they get reintroduced to the fray.

However, this period will also require recalibration from the rest of the side as well, and it is likely this which saw the Brumbies falter against the Drua on Friday night.

It was a historic win for the Drua, who truly deserved the triumph, but the Brumbies were their own worst enemy, and it must be said that the Wallaby trio did not help to steady the ship.

The Brumbies’ rollercoaster is as much game-to-game as it is throughout the game. Slow starts, strong finishes, it is enough to set off a pace maker.

The Brumbies haven’t exhibited any real dominance since round-2 against the Crusaders, where they won 50-24, but even then, they came home with a wet sail.

The Brumbies are capable of extraordinary gameplay and have a unique ability to maintain possession during high-phase counts, but they must start curtailing their will to play long stanzas.

The Brumbies, despite doing better in their meterage per carry at the weekend than in previous weeks, still lack the necessary cut through to be able to put teams under the kosh consistently throughout games.

When the Wallaby trio of Wright, Frost, and AAA get up to speed, they will definitely help with this, as well as help make the Brumbies an 80-minute team once again.

Zac Lomax has a lot to learn but there’s a reason he stood out in Perth

Commentators, fans, and punters alike were hype on the Lomax train after he scored his first Super Rugby Pacific try, and how could you not be? He was chuffed after bagging his first meat pie in eight months.

But, what should be noted is not his try assist, the strong moments in contact, not even his epic aerial feats, but rather that the Force played to his strengths.

How many times have pundits or the comment sections on social media called for fellow league convert now 18-cap Wallaby, Joseph Aukuso Suaalii, to be targeted by crossfield kicks, I’ve lost count.

This is what made Lomax a success, rather than a liability, in just his second game of professional rugby ever.

Granted, Lomax looked lost and got caught out in defence a few times, as was to be expected by a backline littered with All Blacks, but Lomax did not let that dampen his drive to be involved.

Last week, Lomax was applauded in this column for hitting a few rucks; this week, he joined a maul, making his ambition to learn and grow very clear.

So while there will come bigger hurdles, some face-palm moments, the Force will benefit greatly if they continue to play to Lomax’s strengths.

No one moment exemplifies this sort of specific planning more than in the 41st minute, when the Force ran a set move off a lineout into the midfield, only to set up for a cross-field boxkick to Lomax in the corner.

Had halfback Henry Roberston’s kick been five metres deeper, then Lomax would have scored his first Super Rugby try earlier than he already did, because he won that ball with ease on the Crusaders’ 5m line.

A tip of the hat must go to the Force coaching set-up as well for manufacturing this play and employing Lomax’s unique skills.

Although no points came from it, it will have other teams on their guard to the possibilities when Lomax is on the wing.