It may be only two games into Super Rugby Pacific 2026, but so far at least, the weather looks set fair for Rugby Australia. The Brumbies and a resurgent Waratahs sit proudly atop the table with four wins out of four, with the men from Canberra having registered 50 points or more in both of their opening fixtures.
The Ponies’ resounding 50-24 victory in Christchurch was their first win in Te Kaha for over 25 years and it marked veteran prop James Slipper’s 200th appearance in the competition. It was picture-perfect all round, and Slipper’s comments in the aftermath hinted Australian rugby may just have turned a corner: “Most Aussie teams come here and put up the fight but never get the chocolates, so to come away with the result, and the way it ended up, it’s a big result for us.”
Yes indeed. There is a growing sense a lot of important pieces of the jigsaw are slotting neatly into place as a World Cup on home soil in 2027 looms on the horizon. Just after Christmas, Fraser McReight was appointed captain of the Queensland Reds despite playing in the same back-row as Joe Schmidt’s choice of skipper of the national side, Harry Wilson.
It was undoubtedly the right decision. McReight captained the outstanding 2019 Australia Under-20s side which included Wilson and so many other luminaries who will be expected to light up the premier tournament on planet rugby next year: Angus Bell, Josh Nasser, Nick Frost, Carlo Tizzano, Noah Lolesio and Mark Nawaqanitawase were all part of the Junior World Cup squad seven years ago, and will likely represent the full-blown Wallabies in 2027. Others such as Jeremy Williams, Carter Gordon, Ryan Lonergan and Jordie Petaia were part of the wider age group and could well have a role to play at senior level.
One short month after McReight was appointed, a proven SRP winner with the Blues crossed the Tasman to try his luck with the Reds. Globetrotting coach Vern Cotter will start work with Queensland in the World Cup year and bring new and varied IP gleaned from his time spent in New Zealand, France and Scotland to Ballymore.
But it is the seismic shift to McReight as skipper which will have the most profound impact of all. If you selected Australia’s most valuable player in 2025 it would be the tireless Reds tearaway. In the brutal world of Test-match selection, it also opens up the number six spot to review because Wilson will no longer be an automatic selection.
That in turn will create an opportunity for Charlie Cale, who has missed most of the past 12 months with injury. It’s a secret, so speak it in a whisper: I have some history with Cale. In the first season of Stuart Lancaster’s time in charge of Racing 92, I analysed his game extensively, and broke it down piece by piece. The player most coveted by the Parisian giants was Cale.
He had only played one full season of Super Rugby at the time, but the unadulterated quality of the raw athletic ingredients available looked as good as any of the outstanding group of back-rowers Stuart had coached at Leinster – Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Rhys Ruddock, Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird et al. The planned transfer to the Top 14 never came to fruition but the admiration remains as strong as ever.
Now Cale is back, and looking to make up for lost time. After the Brumbies’ first round win against the Western Force, head coach Stephen Larkham paid tribute to his impact.
“He played both trials for us,” Larkham said. “In his first game, he was a little bit rusty. He’d been out of the game for a long time. I think he only played four games last year, for the whole year.
“So, he was significantly underdone in terms of match fitness and match readiness… but in his second trial against the Waratahs, he was a bit of a standout for us! He scored three tries and was really dominant with his carries through the middle of the field. We [already] know how dangerous he is down the edges.
“Today, he just continued that form he had in that second trial against the Waratahs. Again, really good through the middle of the field, dangerous on edges, and outstanding in the lineout. He’s probably our best jumping defensive lineout jumper.
“It’s great to see, we knew there’d be a lot of potential with him. We didn’t get much out of him last year, but it’s great to see him on the park and playing so well.”
Brumbies captain Lonergan had a simpler and even more eloquent summary – “super-dynamic”. That distils Cale’s presence on a rugby field as well as any one word can.
After two rounds of SRP 2026, Cale is already rising to the top of so many KPI categories which are the preserve of elite big back-rowers: second in number of ball-carries [29] but first in the number of metres made by a forward [155m]; second in tackles completed [39] and in the combination of own lineouts won [7] and opposition throws stolen [2].
One of the great advantages Cale will enjoy in 2026 and 2027 is, unlike Wilson, he plays with another of the Wallabies’ ‘indispensables’ Bobby Valetini, week in, week out at his club in Canberra. The pair dovetail perfectly on attack, with ‘Bobby V’ handling most of the hard yakka up the middle and Cale playing the old Pete Samu role as the samurai sword on the edge. One swish of the katana and the game is over.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 24, 2026
From a short lineout, Valetini is split out in midfield to set up the first ruck, while Cale stays out on the near-side edge awaiting the ball on third phase. When the ball reaches him, the finish is as clinical as any wing’s, with the Brumbies number eight slicing the gap between the last two Force defenders as cleanly as any Itamae-san in the front window of a sushi restaurant. Cale has the speed of footballing mind to go with his twinkling feet down the sideline.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 24, 2026
It’s tapped penalty and Cale trusts his speed and skills in the 15-5 metre corridor rather than waiting for the more routine kick for a 5m lineout. As Larkham’s comments imply, he has also added some extra muscle mass from his 2023 listing at 105kg, which enables him to carry more effectively in heavy traffic and adds an extra string to his bow.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 24, 2026
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 24, 2026
The other super-strength of the super-dynamic Narramine native is the lineout. He is one of the three top exponents in the Australian domestic game, along with the Force’s Williams and current Wallaby mid-line leaper and lineout skipper Frost. Cale’s extraordinary natural spring and rapid elevation into the air makes him almost impossible to mark, even if you know exactly where the throw is going.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 24, 2026
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 24, 2026
The Crusaders at the front of the line are podded up and expecting the throw to Cale, but they can do nothing to stop him winning the ball cleanly, and the Brumbies finish with a picture-perfect exit play up to their own 40m line. He is so quick into air on the opposition throw it becomes perilous to call anywhere near his zone. He is already one of the very few lineout defenders in the world who can cover two different target spaces in the line from one single spot.
Perhaps Rugby Australia was right to trim from five Super Rugby franchises down to four after all. In the early stages of SRP 2026 the signs look promising for the Tahs and the Brumbies, and the stars in the southern hemisphere sky may just be aligning for Australian rugby ahead of the World Cup.
Cotter has been recruited to fill the Queensland coaching role left by Les Kiss’ promotion to the Wallabies, and the decision to anoint McReight above Wilson as Reds skipper is undoubtedly the right one. McReight was the man for the job back in 2019 at junior level and he is the man for 2027 in the seniors now. That will allow Cale to fulfil the promise he first flashed back in 2023, in his rookie season of Super Rugby. Cale may never have donned the ciel et bleu but the green and gold will do just as nicely, thank you very much.
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