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Super -- Not So Super -- Rugby Pacific: Reds-Brumbies serve up Easter treat

The Easter long weekend brought more than just chocolate eggs with the Crusaders finally breaking their duck in defeating the Chiefs, and the Reds and Brumbies playing out a classic.

Going down to the wire, the Brumbies won the chocolates in Brisbane in a Test-like battle, while the Crusaders have got their season back on track with their first win of the season.

Elsewhere, there were wins for the Rebels, Hurricanes, Drua and Blues.

Read on as we review some of the Super -- And Not So Super -- action from Round 6.

SUPER

REDS-BRUMBIES SERVE UP EASTER TREAT

If what the Waratahs and Rebels served up on Friday night can only be called a dog's breakfast then the second Australian derby between the Reds and Brumbies on Saturday can only be labelled a feast fit for a king.

In perfect conditions in Brisbane, the Reds and Brumbies played out an epic encounter to close out the round with score-changes, blistering attack, bruising defence and two high-quality sides chancing their arm with free-flowing rugby.

Every Wallaby hopeful did justice to their chances especially the likes of Tom Wright, Harry Wilson and Jordan Petaia who all took part in scintillating moments in the match. Wright was a shining light for the Brumbies with his ability to pierce the gap while helping his side close out the game with his double.

Petaia too for the Reds, helped spark their second half and put the pressure back on the Brumbies, finishing the match with eight tackle busts and 11 carries for 177 metres. No doubt a timely reminder to the higher powers of his talent and importance following their big money signing of Max Jorgensen, who seemingly went missing during the Tahs' loss.

Meanwhile, Noah Lolesio proved again just how important an accurate kicker is in a Test-level calibre clash, delivering what Lawson Creighton and Tom Lynagh failed to do as he booted his team to the slimmest of victories, including a long-range goal right on the half time siren.

The only detractor from the evening was of course Lachlan Lonergan's horrific ankle injury coming off the back of what looked like a hip-drop tackle, but we'll get into that down the page.

With the quality game that was put on display, it's a good reminder Australian rugby isn't as far off the mark as people believe.

CRUSADERS FINALLY GET THEIR CHOCOLATES

After six rounds the men from Canterbury finally claimed their first win of the season with their most put together performance of the year.

The pressure was on and not many were backing the Crusaders over the highly fancied Chiefs, but a standout performance from George Bell led the side to a drought breaking win and released some pressure on coach Rob Penney.

Composed in all the important moments, the hooker went the distance, playing the full 80-minutes with a runaway 42m try one of the highlights of the weekend.

Running a fantastic line he burst onto the ball and showed some pace as he beat Chiefs fly-half Josh Jacomb.

"I just got my foot through a wee hole, and thought if I tried to step too much I'd probably fall over," he joked post-match.

"So I thought I'd pin my ears back.. and find a way to the white chalk. It was a great feeling."

Penney said the players used "the emotional energy" to their advantage and you could clearly see the hunger as they punished several of the Chiefs uncharacteristic mistakes. Their attack was lethal with wing Johnny McNicholl finding the line twice while young-gun halfback Noah Hotham added a spark to the backline.

For the first time this season it seemed the pressure was no longer on their shoulders and instead had shifted to the opposition who struggled without their playmaker Damien McKenzie.

Given a bye round to recover from the blistering battle, the Crusaders will be licking their lips at their next three match ups as they face the Waratahs, Force and Rebels. With a win on the board there's still plenty of time to turn their season around.


NOT SO SUPER

TAHS GOOD FRIDAY FROM HELL

After what the Waratahs served up against the Fijian Drua in Lautoka a week earlier, it was hard to believe the absolute dog's breakfast of a performance they produced on Good Friday.

In front of a decent home crowd following three straight losses by less than three points, the Tahs couldn't have produced a poorer showing as they looked bewildered with the ball, their backrow repeatedly failed to secure the ruck and they handed over possession on a platter with a 18-4 penalty count and 36 turnovers.

It was a hard watch for any rugby fan with both sides struggling with their execution on a night where conditions suited running rugby and both had plenty to play for, but you'd hardly have known it given what was dished up.

Losing Angus Bell before the match to a disc issue the Tahs scrum was absolutely dominated, repeatedly handing over penalties and field position to the Rebels, while their backrow seemed to watch on as the Rebels bulldozed through their ruck on multiple occasions to win turnovers. The Waratahs can only count themselves lucky the Rebels failed to convert their many chances.

Meanwhile, the few impressive moments of the night were sandwiched together by ugly mistakes.

After bashing their way to within metres of the Rebels tryline and finally looking like they were putting a solid platform together, a quick-tap error from Miles Amatosero typified everything that was going wrong for the Waratahs.

Given a penalty five out, the Tahs set for the quick tap, but looked bewildered with what to do, and shortly handed the ball straight back over when the lock failed to even tap the ball before picking it up to charge for the line. Face meet palm.

It would only be bettered in the final minutes of the match.

In his first appearance in the sky blue in 707 days, Will Harrison brought some spark to the pitch, taking on the line and slipping through defenders to offload and eventually see Jack Grant score a late try and close the gap to just one point. But just moments later, he would send a poor pass inside his 22m that would be taken into the in-goal and gift the visitors a five-metre scrum with just minutes left on the clock.

It was rock and diamonds stuff, with plenty more rocks than there were diamonds, and the toll was clear to see on captain Jake Gordon's face at the end of the match.

"It's getting a bit repetitive now," he said. "We are competing, but we want to be a good team and good teams ice those opportunities.

"We've got to review those moments but there's something's not working, especially when the heat's on us so it's disappointing."

Given the pressure that was on Waratahs coach Darren Coleman ahead of the match you'd have to say his days are numbered.

HIP-DROP TACKLE MAKES ITS WAY TO RUGBY WITH TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES

It was only a matter of time before the hip-drop tackle would make its way into Super Rugby Pacific, but the consequences have been devastating already.

Brought down in an ugly looking tackle, Brumbies hooker Lachlan Lonergan's leg appeared to get tangled up with Reds halfback Tate McDermott's resulting in a serious fractured and dislocated ankle. Just one look and you could see it was a terrible injury with Lonergan carted off the pitch in just the 20th minute.

It came just hours after Hurricanes halfback Cam Roigard suffered his own horrific injury that looked like his kneecap had come out of place in the midst of being tackled. Given the seriousness of the injuries it appears both will be sidelined for some time.

The hip-drop tackle has made headlines throughout both the NRL and the NFL due to it's high risk of injury and has resulted in the move just recently becoming outlawed in the NFL, while the NRL has also brought in it's own harsh punishment for the move.

Given the high risk there's no doubt World Rugby should follow suit sooner rather than later and avoid any chance the hip-drop becomes a bigger issue within the game. With World Rugby focusing so much on tackle height this is another area of the game that should be looked at quickly.

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham was right to bring to question the legality around the move post-match, especially due to the devastating consequences that come alongside the tackle.

"I think it's legal; you get your arms on first, then you're allowed to trip," he said. "It's nasty, isn't it? There's nothing illegal about it but obviously it's caused a significant injury and needs to be looked into."

If World Rugby are serious about cleaning up the game and making it safer for players, a move needs to be made quickly.

DID SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC MISS A TRICK?

It's Easter long weekend, people are laid up on the couch, chomping on endless amounts of chocolate eggs and bunnies, with four days of relaxation and plenty of time to watch rugby, too bad every Super Rugby Pacific match was run and won within 28 hours.

While the AFL and NRL was played out across five days in Australia, with their fixtures from Thursday through to Monday to benefit from the extra long weekend, SRP instead stuck to their usual fixture format which included four matches played out on Saturday alone.

Constantly in competition for eyeballs, surely the powers that be could have thought up some scheduling magic to make the most of the four-day weekend?

People will argue the minimum six-day turnaround would cause issues, but with only eight teams playing in Round 7, four more will be kicking their feet up, enjoying a bye weekend, making that argument redundant, with full fixtures not returning til Round 10.

If Super Rugby is to compete with the two biggest codes in the region some lateral thinking needs to be done. Derby clashes across the weekend, Sunday and Monday afternoon fixtures; a shake-up of the fixtures can only benefit the competition.