LONG READ Golden start for Waratahs and Brumbies has Australia hoping for more

I don’t know when two Australian sides last led Super Rugby after the opening two rounds; it was quite likely more recently than I realise. But I will wager that we haven’t seen two Australian sides lead Super Rugby after the opening two rounds with anything like a pair of back-to-back performances as we’ve now seen from the NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies.

Both teams have now recorded dual bonus-point wins, with the Brumbies officially on top with a slightly superior points differential. The ACT side has scored 16 tries and conceded seven. NSW have scored 11 and conceded just three in 160 minutes of rugby in 2026.

This week both sides will be publicly attempting to put a lid back on things, not getting too ahead of themselves, no chickens counted early and so on. And yet after the final whistle went last weekend, both the Brumbies and Waratahs will have quietly closed the dressing room door, savoured a celebratory beer, and enjoyed what really has been a phenomenal start, before reminding themselves that the job is a long way from finished.

The Waratahs have a bye this weekend, while the Brumbies are now in the middle of a six-day turnaround before facing the Blues in Canberra for their first home game of the season.

Finding different ways to win from one week to the next might be the most satisfying aspect of each victory, with confidence and momentum high heading into their next games. It’s fair to say they’ll be enjoying themselves at training this week.

The Waratahs got on top early and raced clear against the Queensland Reds, before having to contain a Fijian Drua outfit eager to show their humiliation at home the week before against Moana Pasifika was an isolated performance.

NSW did get out early but the Drua fightback was immediate, getting into the ‘Tahs faces, with the visitors taking a very deserved lead towards the end of the first half. While the Waratahs did score to take a lead at the break, the sense was that they were lucky to be leading at all.

The common denominator in the two wins is no great surprise, and it’s actually a bit scary to think what kind of form Max Jorgensen might find if he can stay on the field for the whole season, which already is unsurprisingly the Waratahs biggest priority.

Jorgensen scored right before half-time and had another chalked off for a forward pass two minutes later. A second followed in the 80th minute, with kids in the crowd and accountants in the Waratahs office both going home happy. But in between the weekly edition of the Jorgensen highlights reel, NSW had to roll the sleeves up properly and get to work grinding the Drua down the old fashion way; pick-and-drive phases, tactical kicking for territory, and good use of the lineout driving maul.

Former Crusaders hooker Ioane Moananu grabbed a double on his Waratahs debut, and the back row featuring a slimmed-down Charlie Gamble were prominent, slowly but surely claiming a bonus-point win even if the scoreline doesn’t quite reflect how hard the Waratahs had to work.

There are mixed responses to early-season byes, but the Waratahs might enjoy taking the week off to reset and re-ground themselves after the perfect start to the season. And rest some bodies after copping everything the Drua threw at them in Sydney.

Stephen Larkham did his best to stifle a chuckle when informed, immediately after the Brumbies’ stand-up-and-take-notice 50-24 win over the Crusaders, that the last time the Brumbies won in Christchurch, Larkham was at fly-half in a 17-12 win back in 2000. Ryan Lonergan was just two years old. Plenty more of the team in Sunday’s win weren’t even born.

Last week in Perth, the Brumbies had to battle with no possession through most of the first half to lead the Western Force 14-10 at the break. A week later in Christchurch, they had so much possession – particularly in the first half – that they wasted opportunities with execution errors, even being guilty of ‘over playing’ as the Crusaders’ impressive line defence held.

But as the half went on, the Crusaders started conceding penalties and the Brumbies were good enough to capitalise. First, fullback Andy Muirhead produced the kind of something-from-nothing try up the middle that we’d normally associate with the injured Tom Wright. Then James Slipper went over in the corner to finish off a Cadeyrn Neville break, followed by No 8 Charlie Cale scoring late in the half while the home team was down to 14 players.

The Brumbies led 19-14 at half-time with the Crusaders leaking penalties, eight to none, with lock Antonio Shalfoon sin-binned in the 36th minute. It would be several minutes into the second half before the Brumbies conceded their first penalty.

Even then they were still having to work hard and keep testing the Crusaders defence to see where the cracks might emerge. The bounce of the ball did a lot of the hard work, young gun outside centre Kadin Pritchard – in just his third game – swooped on a gold-plated bounce from a Declan Meredith chip in behind the defensive line. His try pushed the margin out to ten, and though the Crusaders hit back through Sevu Reece a few minutes later, there was a noticeable element of desperation to their play.

A yellow card for a high tackle to back-row Dom Gardiner had the potential to be a turning point in the Brumbies’ favour, but instead the Crusaders struck to move within a score.

This was where the panic began to set in for Brumbies supporters. They’ve been in this situation too many times before and could feel the first pangs of impending heartbreak building inside. The Crusaders simply don’t lose in Christchurch, they reminded themselves.

But the Crusaders never got another look in. Barely saw the ball again. The Brumbies built on their momentum – maybe they even remembered back to winning at Eden Park and breaking that hoodoo last season – and ran in three more tries in the final seven minutes, turning the win into a a record-breaker – a first win in Christchurch since 2000. The first Australian side to score 50 points in New Zealand, and only the third non-NZ team in all 31 seasons of Super Rugby to manage that feat.

The Brumbies now have rapidly changing expectations to deal with, as pundits and supporters alike all scramble to reassess both them and the Waratahs. Previously expected to simply build for next season, could their time arrive sooner? They’ve been super impressive over the opening two rounds, showing patience and composure, a clinical edge to put teams away.

It’s hard in Australia to not to get swept up in the excitement they’ve built for the game already this season. We so badly want them to keep going from here.

Even after two straight defeats at home to start the year, there is still a feeling that the Western Force are in a better position than previous years to mount a charge over the back end of the competition, having recruited well again and with a squad that is certainly stronger than since Simon Cron took over.

They are competing for longer in games, and against some good opposition so far this season. But their inability to stay the distance over 80 minutes is a familiar undoing. It’s not even that they conceded more turnovers or penalties than the Blues, but rather where they did it on the field opened up more opportunities for the Blues to switch quickly into attack, striking repeatedly.

This is something the Force must address with some degree of urgency, and perhaps a three-game tour of New Zealand is the time to do that.
If they don’t, the real danger is their season might be done by the time they return home late next month.