Welcome to off-field review, where we'll wrap up the Super Rugby Pacific round in hopefully quicker time than it takes the TMO to rule on foul play!
1. SRP COULD NOT HAVE ASKED FOR A BETTER OPENING WEEKEND
Given the tumultuous 2024 season, Super Rugby Pacific was in dire need of a fast start to 2025. And that's exactly what Round 1 delivered over the weekend. Two after-the-siren thrillers, three further gripping encounters, 45 tries in total and countless highlight-worthy moments. What SRP chief executive Jack Mesley and his fellow SRP officials did well was nail the first-round fixtures in terms of their competitiveness. The likely top four Kiwi sides were pitted against each other; a determined Highlanders were an ideal match for a new-look Waratahs team; the Brumbies got up for some Aussie history in Fiji; and a bolstered Moana Pasifika were the perfect match for a Force team which also had a swathe of new faces. Having such an even round of fixtures won't be achievable every week, but it should be what SRP is striving for, as quality contests for neutral fans are what drive television ratings and engagement.
2. SUAALII SHOULD GO TO THE MIDFIELD - FOR BOTH THE TAHS AND WALLABIES' SAKE
The Waratahs were fortunate to come away with the four points in Sydney on Friday night, and they will need to improve significantly if they are to worry local rivals the Brumbies and Reds, let alone the big Kiwi outfits. NSW should have dominated a smaller Highlanders physically, but Jamie Joseph's side aimed up, particularly in midfield, where they did hold an edge in size. Apart from Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, the Waratahs field a small backline, making it hard to get on the front foot when they look to play with width. Against the Highlanders, the best Waratahs' attacks came on the counter, when they had a fractured defensive line in front of them. It's true that inside centre Joey Walton kept carting the ball up right to the final whistle, but he, alongside Lalakai Foketi, is undersized in the midfield. A simple switch to outside centre for Suaalii would help fix that, and also allow Andrew Kellaway or Max Jorgensen to shift to fullback. Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt would also surely support such a move, given the Kiwi has found his Test fullback in Tom Wright and as a result played Suaalii in the midfield on the spring tour. Waratahs coach Dan McKellar said Schmidt has not interfered with selection at all, but given RA effectively owns the 2014 champions surely there is no need for a separation of church and state in this scenario.
3. LUKE REIMER IS VITAL FOR THE BRUMBIES - BUT HE COULD BE ANOTHER LIAM GILL
Australia has been blessed with a production line of openside flankers since George Smith largely revolutionised the position, alongside All Blacks great Richie McCaw, in the first part of this century. Each has had their own unique skill set with current Wallabies No. 7 Fraser McReight arguably the closest to Smith in his all-round game. But the Reds had a good one before McReight in Liam Gill, who was instrumental in their 2011 triumph. Gill was tailor-made for the up-tempo, open style of Super Rugby, but with his path to Wallabies selection blocked by David Pocock and Michael Hooper, he eventually decided to head offshore at just 26. And it could be a similar situation for the Brumbies' Luke Reimer, who was largely responsible for getting ACT over the line in Fiji on Saturday. Reimer made two vital steals and scored two tries inside the final 15 minutes as the under-strength Brumbies ran down the Drua 35-32. Reimer is still only 24, so he has plenty of time to push for Test selection, but more performances like the one he produced in Suva will likely make him a prime target for both European and Japanese clubs. Gill resisted the temptation until he was 26, the same age Reimer will be when his contract expires at the Brumbies in two years' time.
4. CRUSADERS OF OLD, WITH A NEW AUSSIE TINGE
In a worrying sight for the rest of the competition, the Crusaders looked a lot like their old selves in Friday's win over Hurricanes. With Will Jordan back from a season out, and fellow key All Blacks Scott Barrett, Tamaiti Williams, Ethan Blackadder, David Havili and Sevu Reece all on deck, the 10-time champions were virtually at full strength, front-rowers Codie Taylor and George Bell aside. That wasn't the case for much of last year, when injury decimated the Crusaders squad and coach Rob Penney only just survived an internal review after the team missed the finals. But Penney will be breathing easier after a Round 1 win, built on the back of impact from each of those players and replacement scrum-half Kyle Preston's hat trick. And then there was the cameo of 64-Test Wallabies veteran James O'Connor, who came on with 22 minutes to play and enjoyed a number of silky touches, helping to lay on the Crusaders' penultimate try to boot. A number of Kiwi players have come over to Australia in recent years, but O'Connor is one of the few, and certainly the most high-profile, to go the other way. With the Crusaders short on depth at fly-half, the recruitment of O'Connor looks a shrewd move. And hopefully it results in a little more cross-Tasman movement.
5. RATIMA TACKLE SHADES DONALDSON FOR PLAY OF THE ROUND
There was no shortage of match-winning moments, pieces of individual brilliance across the weekend. From Siosifa Amone's two-try heroics or Ben Donaldson's 60-metre match-winner, to the attacking flair of the Fijian Drua, so too Moana Pasifika who ran up 45 points and still came second. But for the scale of the play and its unlikeliness, Cortez Ratima's try-saving tackle on Mark Tele'a in the Chiefs' upset win over the Blues gets our nod. Few players are tougher to tackle in game than Tele'a, so Ratima's outstanding defence in the corner, where he was able to get his body underneath Tele'a's and stop the Blues winger from grounding the ball in-goal, was as good as you will see. It saved a certain five points, and possibly seven.