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Sam Bruce, Deputy Editor, espn.com.au
Super Round at last lived up to its name, on the field at least, with an engrossing weekend of action taking place at AAMI Park.
Five of the six games were in the balance into the final 10 minutes, while the finale between the Reds and Hurricanes went beyond that and into golden point.
There were wins for the Blues, Rebels, Moana Pasifika, Waratahs, Chiefs and Hurricanes.
Read on as we review some of the Super — and Not So Super – action from Round 2.
SUPER
CAN ANYONE STOP THE CHIEFS?
The competition may only be two weeks old, but the Chiefs are looking like much the same team as last year – perhaps an even better one.
Sunday afternoon’s crushing 46-12 victory over the Brumbies confirmed the Chiefs’ place as tournament favourites, the win built on a physicality up front that ACT simply couldn’t match. Clayton McMillan’s side bullied the Brumbies up front, running through the heart of their opposition to finish with 664 run metres for the match, compared with their hosts’ 436.
Skipper Luke Jacobson, back-rower Samipeni Finau and and lock Manaakai Selby-Rickett all led the way up front as the forward pack laid a superb platform for halves Xavier Roe and Damian McKenzie, who then ran amok out wide alongside Etene Nanai-Seturo and Shaun Stevenson.
The only lowlight on an otherwise near-perfect afternoon was a red card to replacement prop Jared Profitt, who collected Brumbies lock Cadeyrn Neville in a nasty high tackle.
With back-to-back wins over the Crusaders and Brumbies, the Chiefs have already accounted for two of the competition’s heavyweights. Last year they dropped only one game on the way to the final, before they were pipped by the Crusaders at home in the decider.
And McMillan clearly has his side humming again, the departures of Sam Cane, Brodie Retallick, Brad Weber and Pita-Gus Sowakula perhaps not having as much of an impact as some thought they might.
EDMED GOES DIRECT TO STEER WARATAHS TO UPSET WIN
It wasn’t the same $13 price they started at Leichhardt two years ago, but the Waratahs still made a mockery of the bookmakers in producing arguably their finest performance of the Darren Coleman era to defeat the Crusaders 37-24 on Saturday night.
Conceding a try after just 90 seconds, it looked like NSW were going to be in for a long night – and Coleman’s hopes of a contract extension all but ruined – but from there on the Waratahs largely owned the contest as they punished their opponents’ mistakes, disrupted their lineout and capitalised on their own genuine try-scoring opportunities.
This was an all-team performance from the Waratahs, with skipper Jake Gordon, forwards Jed Holloway, Charlie Gamble and Hugh Sinclair, and backs Harry Wilson and Joey Walton all worthy of man-of-the-match honours.
But just as it was two years ago in Sydney, it was fly-half Tane Edmed who pulled the strings of the upset victory, the No. 10 laying on two of the Waratahs’ four tries, the pick of which came on the stroke of halftime when he broke through the Crusaders line off first phase and offloaded to Wilson who went over under the posts.
And that is the key to Edmed’s game. He freely admits he’s not the most talented playmaker out there, that his strengths lie in his simplicity.
“I don’t think I’m someone who’s really blessed with athletic ability, [but] I pride myself on my ability to carry hard and direct when we need to,” Edmed told Stan Sport. “But it’s definitely something that my old man has always stressed to me is to go square, go hard at the line, and the boys we’re helping me out massively, inside and out, presenting the options. But that [being direct] was a big focus, definitely.”
With Ben Donaldson having headed west to join the Force, Edmed can finally make the Waratahs No. 10 jersey his own. And with Coleman’s backing, the playmaker could yet put himself in Wallabies calculations, particularly after he earned a shout-out from new coach Joe Schmidt at halftime on Saturday night.
Coleman, meanwhile, gave special mention to Edmed’s defensive work in running back to deny Crusaders winger Sevu Reece what would have been a key second-half five-pointer.
“Tane is such a dedicated, devoted athlete, that you’re just willing him to do well because he cares about it and he puts so much effort into it,” Coleman said of Edmed post-match. “And particularly his position, it’s a controlling and difficult position, sometimes things are out of your control, so for him to have a great night.
“But what typified Tane for me besides what he did for us tactically and technically, was that chase back to save that try, he was foot-racing with Sevu Reece, and nine times out of 10 Sevu beats him. But that’s just Tane personified, he is such a gritty, tough competitor and just wants it so much, I was really happy for him.” Coleman.
SOTUTU RELISHING LIFE UNDER VERN COTTER
The Blues were forced to work hard for their win over the Highlanders in the opening match of Super Round, coming from behind to record a second straight victory to start their season.
Their 37-29 win was spearheaded by No. 8 Hoskins Sotutu for a second straight week, the back-rower scoring a hat trick to go with his first-up double against the Drua in Round 1.
Sotutu is bringing a physicality to match his skills this year, a real desire to fight through contact and win his side some additional metres.
“He’s a freak of nature,” Blues skipper Dalton Papali’I said of his teammate. “He’s got a skillset like no other. I think it’s that Fijian flair he has. He’s an awesome player. He started last week and this game was on form. I hope he carries that on because he’s a key player in our team.”
Sotutu did not feature for the All Blacks last season, but he has certainly hit the ground running in 2024. Scott Robertson was in the crowd at AAMI Park all weekend and while Ardie Savea will be eligible for Test selection later in the year once he has returned from Japan, Sotutu is certainly giving the new All Blacks coach plenty to ponder, particularly if he holds Savea back until the Rugby Championship.
“It was good that the All Blacks selectors were there watching as well. I hope they take notice of him,” Blues coach Vern Cotter said of his No. 8.
The Blues meet the Hurricanes in Round 3 in a meeting between two of the competition’s three unbeaten sides.
NOT SO SUPER
CRUSADERS DYNASTY OFFICIALLY DONE?
It’s not often the Crusaders are found on this side of our Monday column, but the defending champions were uncharacteristically off on Saturday night. While they started the game with a bang thanks to a short-side raid that netted a try for Macca Springer, the Crusaders never quite settled into the game thereafter.
There were dropped balls from the ever-reliable David Havili, who threw a loose pass that Jake Gordon intercepted and then streaked away downfield, eventually leading to a try for Tristan Reilly; so too Scott Barrett, the skipper’s knock-on coming agonisingly short of the tryline as the Crusaders gave it one final surge inside the final five minutes. The Crusaders’ lineout was meanwhile under pressure throughout and they also had some wobbles at scrum time.
Defensively, they were also off, with Edmed’s break, offload and eventual try for Wilson on the stroke of halftime coming through first phase ball that should have been far more stoutly contained.
With their list of departed stars only compounded by injuries to Will Jordan, Fergus Burke and last week Tamaiti Williams, new coach Rob Penney faces a challenge to right the ship before the season slips away.
DOLEMAN PINGS LONERGAN FOR NOT USING IT
The referees have done a fine job in Super Rugby Pacific so far this season, and it was pleasing to see James Doleman bring Brumbies captain Ryan Lonergan up for not using the ball when called to do so during the first half of Sunday’s game with the Chiefs.
But it was a hardly an isolated incident from the weekend, and there was more than one occasion in which a similar call could have been made throughout the Brumbies-Chiefs clash.
So consistency is the key; if that is the standard then all referees should try and meet it.
But the irony of the situation is that the sanction is counterproductive to the law itself. By setting a scrum to the defending team, the game is being brought to a halt with at least 30 seconds then wasted as the two forward packs come together for the set-piece.
Perhaps a better sanction would be to enforce only a free kick to the defending team, from which they cannot call for a scrum, thereby ensuring the game continues to flow, as is the purpose of the five-second “use it” call.
BARRETT GETS IT BADLY WRONG IN MILESTONE MATCH
The Hurricanes ensured Jordie Barrett could remember his 100th game for the franchise for the right reasons, as they defeated the Reds in a gripping encounter that finished in golden point and provided the ideal end to a wonderful Super Round.
But it was hard to miss Barrett’s embarrassment at the post-match presentation after he had earlier collected Jordie Petaia in a nasty high tackle that is likely to see the Hurricanes centre spend at least a couple of weeks on the sidelines.
Barrett knew he was in trouble almost straight away after he failed to drop his bodyheight, his right shoulder catching Petaia flush on the chin as the Reds fullback brought the ball back from a kick.
The incident was deemed to have met the yellow card threshold and was subsequently sent for an off-field review, where it was soon upgraded to a red card and the Hurricanes were left with 14 men for 20 minutes as a result.
What was just as troubling however was that Petaia was not immediately brought from the ground, that he was left on the field for a further three minutes before he was sent for a Head Injury Assessment.
After last week’s issues with the new iMG mouthguards, it was almost as if the dial shifted too far back in the other direction. It was clear that Petaia, lying on his back immediately after the incident, should have been brought from the field immediately.
It wasn’t a great round for high tackles either, with Moana Pasifika’s Nigel Ah-Wong and the Chiefs’ Jared Profit also set to face the judiciary.