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!
MAGNIFICENT IMPLOSION UNDERLINES SCALE OF MCKELLAR'S WARATAHS TASK
Brilliant one week, diabolical the next. That's the nature of the Jekyll and Hyde Waratahs, who again looked completely lost on the road at the weekend. While a measure of forgiveness is warranted given the scorching conditions in Lautoka, some of the handling errors and poor defensive work is not so easily written off. Had it not been for the early introduction off the bench of Langi Gleeson -- who is surely now a selection certainty for the Lions despite his decision to head overseas -- NSW would not have been in the contest as it was. But there they were, needing to only touch the ball dead in goal following a sprayed post-siren penalty goal to secure what may yet prove to have been a potentially vital bonus point; what transpired instead was some woeful decision-making first from Tane Edmed and Jamie Adamson, the play then ending in farcical scenes when Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii picked the ball up in an offside position. The TMO and referee Paul Williams were left with little choice but to award the Drua a penalty try; Suaalii probably unawares that unlike his former code of rugby league, you can in fact be offside in the in-goal area in rugby. And so the Waratahs left Fiji with nothing, and were then reported to have not shown up for the post-match function. This week's bye feels like the perfect opportunity for McKellar to reset his squad for what looms as a real scramble towards the playoffs. With only two home games remaining, and not a losing bonus point to their name in 2025, the Waratahs will likely need to beat either the Brumbies, Force or Blues on the road, and defeat both the Crusaders and Reds in Sydney, to reach the postseason. It seems an unlikely proposition.
BRUMBIES HAVE BUILT INTO SEASON PERFECTLY
Make no mistake, the Brumbies' bonus-point 24-0 win over Moana Pasifika on Saturday was a better performance than their classy win over the Reds a week earlier. Shutting out the previous highest-scoring team in the competition, on their home patch to boot, is no minor feat. ACT were forced to aim up early when Moana were hard on the attack, before the visitors lost Tom Hooper to the sin-bin, yet they were able to repel their hosts and then took the ascendancy on the stroke of halftime through a brilliant try to flyer Corey Toole. From there, the Brumbies played smart, simple rugby, rolling their maul to two tries for hooker Billy Pollard. Larkham's decision to bring James Slipper off the bench also paid dividends, with the veteran prop powering the Brumbies to scrum dominance, which helped give them the field position they needed to use their maul. The Brumbies have the feel of a team that is improving week on week and with a fourth road win now safe in their keeping for 2025, they are the Aussie team most capable of securing a top-two finish.
IT WOULD BE NICE TO HEAR FROM SCHMIDT, AROUND JOC IN PARTICULAR
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has spoken only twice to Stan Sport so far this year, and as yet, he has not been available to the wider media. It has prevented the Australian rugby community any clarity over his selection policy around those who are signed to play overseas beyond this year, and denied the game his general thoughts on the collective performances of broader Wallabies player base. Had Schmidt been available, he surely would have been asked about James O'Connor, and whether or not the Crusaders utility could yet feature against the British & Irish Lions. O'Connor has proven a shrewd acquisition for the Crusaders this season, his latest effort a match-winning penalty against the Blues in Christchurch on Friday. This column has previously flagged O'Connor for inclusion in the Australia-New Zealand Invitational team that will face the Lions in Adelaide the week before the first Test, but there is growing support for the Super Rugby journeyman to be included in the Wallabies squad proper. O'Connor has a history of stepping up in big moments, but he now also has the maturity to match his talents. His comments from earlier in the season on not knowing how to play 10 when first thrown into the playmaking hot seat years ago were honest and telling. While the Wallabies have plenty of backline talent, they are short on big-game experience. O'Connor may be the answer, at least in some capacity.
TRANS-TASMAN TRACKER SET TO RAMP UP IN ROUND 11
As it stands, no New Zealand team has won on Australian soil in 2025. The Hurricanes' draw with the Force took their collective return to 7-0-1, while the Brumbies [twice] and Reds have each notched wins across the ditch. That is a pleasing snapshot for Australian rugby, and certainly supports the idea that the country was too thinly spread for talent to have five teams. But a better idea of just whether it has been a quick of the draw to date or is indeed the exact kind of improvement the Australian game has collectively been after will come in the next few weeks, starting with the Anzac Day blockbuster between the Reds and Blues in Brisbane, followed by the Brumbies-Hurricanes clash in Wellington. Beyond that, the Crusaders visit Sydney and Canberra, while the Waratahs and Blues meet in a potentially winner-takes-all clash in Auckland in the closing round. Win half of those games, and Australian rugby will really be riding a wave of momentum.
HURRICANES' HARKIN WITH AN ALLTIME BUTCHER EFFORT
The Hurricanes were forced to settle for a draw in Perth after they could not be separated from the Western Force, even after golden point extra time. Both teams had the chance to win it within the additional 10 minutes, but the Hurricanes probably should have wrapped it up in regular time. And they would have been in a far stronger position had fullback Cullum Harkin simply ran the ball in for a try himself, instead of attempting a pass back inside that hit the deck and saw a certain try bombed. It really had to be seen to be believed.