Brumbies to flood Wallabies after record-breaking Super Rugby season
The last three teams to win six games in a season by 11 points or more won the Super Rugby title. Now the Brumbies are just two wins away from completing one of the greatest seasons in the competition’s history.
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Whatever the Wallabies tried last year didn’t work.
And while Super Rugby form is far from a proven formula for Test match performance, what the Brumbies have done in the past two months should ensure they have plenty of representation in the Wallabies side next month.
Some things can easily translate; the Brumbies’ rolling maul, run by their front row and lock Rory Arnold should ensure they all start in the first Test for Australia against South Africa on July 20.
Their ability to manipulate defences back on the inside should see speedster Tom Banks included in the 23, and Christian Lealiifano directing play as he has done expertly in the back half of the season.
The Brumbies’ statistics are incredible; while most of the rugby world has been robbed of oxygen by the never-ending Israel Folau saga, Canberra’s Super side has quietly gone about manufacturing one of the most spectacular winning runs of any Australian team in the tournament’s history.
They’ve won seven games in a row to storm into the semi-finals against the Test-strength Jaguares in Buenos Aires (kick-off Saturday 9.05am AEST).
In their past six, the Brumbies have won by 11 points or more. For perspective, it’s only the fifth time in Super Rugby history a team has managed this in one season and Fox Sports Stats reveals that the past three teams to achieve the feat Crusaders (2018 and 2017) and Waratahs (2014) went on to become champions.
Dan McKellar has proven himself to be an adept tactician and wily strategist, using traditional strengths and surprise manoeuvres to ensure the Brumbies have threats across the field and remain unpredictable.
A number of players who would not have been considered starting Wallaby material at the beginning of the year - Lealiifano, Allan Alaalatoa, Folau Fainga’a, Arnold, and Banks - would be disgruntled if they didn’t in Johannesburg.
Others who didn’t feature in most peoples’ discussions as bench prospects - James Slipper, Rob Valetini, Locky McCaffrey, Toni Pulu, Henry Speight - should now certainly in the mix.
Incidentally, the last game the Brumbies lost was to the Jaguares in the Jose Amalfitani Stadium on April 27 by 20-15.
Since then, as the saying goes, they’ve peaked at the right time of the season by defeating the Blues (26-21), Sunwolves (33-0), Bulls (22-10), Sunwolves (42-19), Waratahs (35-24), Reds (40-27), and Durban’s Sharks (38-13) in last week’s quarter-final.
Their driving lineout maul has been one of the most effective attacking weapons in the competition - testament to Fainga’a having scored 11 tries already (the Super Rugby record for a forward in one year is 12, held by Lions and Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx).
But they are not just a one-trick Brumby.
Halfback Joe Powell has been in sublime touch from the base of the ruck, either darting himself or giving his forwards and playmakers plenty of time to execute a variation of hit-ups, inside balls or backline spreads.
Powell has surely superseded Waratahs duo Nick Phipps and Jake Gordon as back-up half to Will Genia with his late season form while Lealiifano, playing his 150th Super Rugby match this weekend, has rediscovered the touch that.
The Brumbies had few friends at the start of 2019; with the Wallaby-stacked Tahs and Melbourne Rebels tipped to take out the Australian conference.
But many of the big names haven’t been up to par this season, while the Brumbies players have excelled individually and collectively.
The Wallabies’ attack, in particular, has suffered from a lack of imagination and tendency to head sideways when under pressure to make the gain line.
The Brumbies are master manipulators of the breakdown ruck, pushing and cleaning out defenders with purpose to create holes either side.
If the breakdowns are flooded they’ll often use a second-man play to exploit space out wide. If there is a set line, their forwards can offload or pass before contact to create that extra metre necessary for gain-line success.
It’s simple, smart, effective rugby done well.
They’ll encounter ferocious defence and exhilarating attacking enterprise from the Jaguares this week - 39 of their squad have been named in Argentina’s 46-man Test squad for The Rugby Championship.
The Jaguares are themselves on a six-match winning streak and are particularly dangerous attacking from their own half, and kicking across field or behind the line, which will require a season-best defensive display from the Brumbies’ backs.
All of these tactics will be in force during the World Cup on fast Japanese tracks and if the Brumbies can fashion another upset to make the grand final, the cases for their star performers wearing gold in October will be overwhelming.
Originally published as Brumbies to flood Wallabies after record-breaking Super Rugby season
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