The three big takeaways from round two of Super Rugby Australia

Super Rugby AUS Round 2 has come and gone, and it delivered great running rugby, big hits, tactical and skillful play, as well as two thrashings.

Overall, the NSW Waratahs are the biggest dog in the yard at the moment, with the Western Force not far behind in their ability to lure their opponents into a scrappy dog fight whilst finishing them off with flair on the edges.

The ACT Brumbies’ Super Rugby Pacific backline is grossly underperforming and is not being helped by their beaten pack. Their scrum is their clear shining light.

The Queensland Reds continue to struggle with a flat attack and appear unable to get any sort of foothold of momentum in their games.

A mashed-together backline behind a decent pack is seemingly not giving them enough attacking weapons or go-forward to punish sides.

Nevertheless, the competition is giving hungry young bucks desperately needed minutes, and is giving the coaches a much-needed look at their future stock.

Despite the results blowing out at the weekend, the Super Rugby AUS competition is definitely fulfilling its purpose.

Some teams show they are better than the sum of their pieces

Looking down a team sheet, it quickly becomes evident where the power lies in any particular match-up.

This has been easy to predict with hardened Super Rugby Pacific players going up against club veterans or academy recruits, but Super Rugby Aus has also served up some huge upsets.

Two clear examples from the weekend’s clashes are the apparent dominance the Queensland Reds frontrow of George Blake, Matt Faessler, and Nick Bloomfield were set to get over their NSW Waratahs counterparts.

In Roma, at the Santos Festival of Rugby, that dominance quickly disintegrated with U20 Wallabies prop Edwin Langi quickly gaining ascendancy over Blake, with hooker Ethan Dobbins and loosehead prop Tom Lambert doing the rest.

It was a great battle at the scrum, with the brawn of Langi up against the power of Blake, and the experience of Lambert going against the form of Bloomfield; it showed that the scrum can be cherished for all the right reasons.

The next best example of the upsets which continue to happen against the apparent natural order was the Western Force backline’s dominance over their opposition, the ACT Brumbies.

In a backline stacked with Australia A representatives and two Wallabies, the Brumbies simply had no answers to the Force’s ability to shift the ball and punch forward with their strong carriers.

In Butler, matchups in the pack were just as helter-skelter.

The Brumbies front row of Lington Ieli, Liam Bowron, and Rhys Van Nek took their time, but eventually their class prevailed, and they dominated the Force’s scrum.

A Super Rugby Pacific second row partnership of Toby McPherson and Wallaby Nick Forst were industrious but played second fiddle to their cobbled-together Force opposites in Zac Healy and Will Harris.

This mismatch and upside-down result, based on what is seen on paper, also took place in Roma, with the youthful backrow of the Waratahs just managing to pip the Reds’ backrow of established players like Joe Brial and John Bryant.

This competition is great for seeing these partnerships, units, match-ups play out in a true rugby environment, not just on the training paddock.

While some coaches will be stoked, others disappointed, there is no doubt all the programs are learning hugely beneficial lessons heading into Super Rugby Pacific 2027.

Standout flyhalf performances come from the non-Wallaby group

Max Burey outplayed Wallaby Tom Lynagh, and Kurtley Beale dominated Wallaby Tane Edmed.

That is a blunt statement, but anyone watching these pairs of players going head-to-head will say the same: the ability for Beale and Burey to use their teams to get forward was obvious.

While Lynagh had a Reds backline that was too flat and had little connection as a unit, Edmed didn’t manage to release the well-drilled Brumby unit outside of him.

While the problems for the respective flyhalves were a part of a broader issue within their own teams, Lynagh and Edmed failed to change the attacking picture or build on the small slivers of momentum their sides gained.

Meanwhile, Beale regularly changed the point of attack, used Zac Lomax as a Jordie Barrett-style distributor and put his Force team into the right parts of the field.

The only criticism of his performance is that he didn’t put young gun Wallace Charlie in enough space to show what he can do with the ball in hand.

Burey, on the other hand, was supported by the most in-sync backline of the competition so far; his clear direction, his ability to spot space, and willingness to change the script depending on the pictures he saw are skills not seen at the Wallaby level too often.

This is not a call to see him chosen for the national side; this is more a remark that he has a skill that is hard to teach, and had he not been behind Ben Donaldson at the Force, perhaps Burey would be wearing a different coloured jersey this coming weekend.

Burey needs consistent minutes in the no.10 jersey, and at age 27, he is the right age profile to be sitting behind Bernard Foley in Super Rugby Pacific 2027 as a great one-two punch combo.

James O’Connor came on late in the Force’s romping of the Brumbies and added his nice delicate touches to keep the Brumbies pinned in their own half, but he will want more out of himself with greater minutes in round-3.

While Lynagh looks to have packed on serious size and is still making his way back from injury, Edmed just looks flat.

Both will benefit from more time in Super Rugby AUS and Australia A, but they will be duelling it out against Beale, Burey, and a few others, one would imagine. 

The stars of the future who have taken their first step towards Super Rugby Pacific

In the first two rounds of Super Rugby AUS, you couldn’t go past the Waratahs’ outside centre Otto Serfontein and the Brumbies’ backrower Eli Langi.

While Langi has shown his running game in the loose is as good as any, and his choice of lines into contact can be lethal, Serfontein has shown a defensive IQ not seen from a no.13 since perhaps a young Len Ikitau entered the scene.

While they are certainly not the only youngsters who have impressed, there is a need to be realistic about where these guys are at in their development.

Langi at times was heavily outmuscled around the breakdown, and likewise with Serfontein.

There is nothing wrong with the way this pair sees the game; they know how to play rugby, that much is certain, but while Langi still needs to mature into a genuine Super Rugby Pacific forward, Serfontein appears as if he needs to pack on a few kilograms before stepping up.

Both players are plenty talented; now they just need to hit the weights.

Elsewhere, Brumbies’ no.8 Oscar Cleary is a defensive powerhouse; the list of people he has smoked in a tackle is growing long, and the list yet to feel his wrath is rapidly shortening. On attack, he still needs to pick his moments.

Reds fullback Will McCulloch has had a great Hospital Cup campaign, but he is struggling with the step up in level so far.

While he is not getting great ball from his inside backs, he is nonetheless struggling with the physicality at times, something he will no doubt grow into, because he promises to be a player of excitement and attacking flair.

While the backrow can be a difficult place to be a young gun, some of the lads are taking to it like a duck to water. The Waratahs no.8 Isaac Fonua and no.7 Marshall Le Maitre were awesome in their showing alongside recruit Joe Mangelsdorf at no.6.

Opposite them, Tom Robinson looks the business and appears ready to play a reserve role in Super Rugby Pacific in 2027; his ability to sniff out a turnover at the ruck is impressive.

While all these young guns are hugely exciting, and in desperate need of a higher level of games like Super Rugby AUS provides, it appears that only one or two of them are truly ready to step up to Super Rugby Pacific in 2027.