Rugby: Waratahs' victory sets warning light flashing

Malakai Fekitoa and Waisake Naholo are two of the four players who lead the competition with nine turnovers won.

The Waratahs' third win of the season was their most valuable.

Their 28-13 victory over the Brumbies on Sunday showed they're not also-rans in 2015 and the defending champions are topping a number of attacking statistics.

They're a dangerous side when Israel Folau is in full flight and the team lead Super Rugby in carries (123.4), metres (554.2), clean breaks (12) and defenders beaten (25.6) per game. They also throw a competition-leading 165.4 passes per contest.

To illustrate how outrageous those numbers are, the Reds are at the bottom of some of those categories and they produce only 77.2 carries per game, cover 281.2 metres each week and beat a lowly 4.4 defenders.

When the Waratahs won the competition last year they played an exciting brand of rugby and their ability to move the ball around was a feature of their play as Folau - who has been dangerous this season - and first-five Bernard Foley directed them to glory.

Folau has warmed into his work nicely and is the top dog in metres (609), offloads (14) and defenders beaten (23) in 2015.

The Waratahs are sitting outside the playoff picture at the moment with only three wins from five games but the numbers suggest they're heading in the right direction to be a finals team again this season.

Point of note: Highlanders backs Malakai Fekitoa and Waisake Naholo are two of the four players who lead the competition with nine turnovers won - the other two are flankers Liam Gill and Luke Braid.

While this is probably an isolated sample given it's only two players, it's notable given it likely reflects the changing nature of the game.

The days of a true fetcher at openside flanker who was at every ruck has gone - the speed of the game doesn't allow it - and backs have adapted to develop the ability to win the ball at the contact areas.

Some of these turnovers from Fekitoa and Naholo may have been caused in bone-crunching tackles but they also add something extra around the paddock.

It was interesting to see that All Blacks Joe Moody and Dominic Bird have fallen out of favour for Todd Blackadder at the Crusaders considering their set-piece has performed well this season. Their scrum operates at a Super Rugby-best 95 per cent success rate, while the lineout is second-equal at 90 per cent.