Kiwi sides bring back the fun
Lapsed rugby fans tuning in to the free-to-air broadcast of Highlanders-Moana Pasifika on Saturday must have been left wondering if they had been too hasty in losing their faith.
A cracking contest in Dunedin featured an early try-of-the-season contender from Sam Gilbert, and the outcome was in the balance until the last 10 minutes.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the Chiefs and Crusaders played out a great game in Hamilton that had many of the same qualities.
Add in Ruben Love shredding the Force defence in Perth, and it was almost enough to banish the abiding images of the Rugby World Cup: a group of stressed officials looking at bank of TV screens, searching for evidence that a butterfly had flapped its wings hard enough to cause a minor knock-on 34 phases before something interesting happened.
Make no mistake about it, New Zealand Rugby knows it is in the entertainment business now, and the opening weekend of Super Rugby Pacific was a good start.
Refs keep TMOs out of it
Much has already been made of the new offside law trial to encourage counter-attacking, and we saw numerous examples of referees penalising loitering defenders.
Officials can’t backslide on this as the season unfolds – it’s clearly an improvement. However, arguably even more important is the direction Super Rugby referees have been given: own the game, and the decisions.
It’s a 180-degree turn from the ‘team of officials’ philosophy at the World Cup, and if the Super Rugby refs can adapt to it the TMO is going be blissfully out of sight and out of mind.
The signs were good at the weekend, which kept the pace of the games ticking along nicely.
New cycle, new All Blacks contenders
Love, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Etene Nanai-Seturo and Zarn Sullivan are all uncapped, but look hell-bent on changing that this year.
For rugby nerds, the year after the Rugby World Cup is actually the best of the cycle, because it throws up opportunities for players they’ve been tracking for years.
As for the performances of the six New Zealand-based sides, they can be summed up in two to three words each.
Chiefs: Excellent as expected. Crusaders: Foolishly written off. Blues: Brutally effective. Hurricanes: Style with steel. Highlanders: A different beast. Moana Pasifika: Structured, and fitter.
Reds impress, but Australians look thin again
Three trans-Tasman derbies in Super Round in Melbourne next week should provide a good indication of whether the balance of power has shifted even a little back towards Australia.
However, on the evidence of the first weekend, the Brumbies and Reds are clearly the best two teams in Australia, with question marks hovering over the Waratahs, Rebels and Force.
The Brumbies were very efficient in beating an error-riddled Rebels on Friday, but the Reds were arguably the pick of the bunch as Tate McDermott, Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson stood out in their 40-22 win against the Waratahs.