Chereè Kinnear counts down the top 5 talking points of the week so far. Video / NZ Herald
NZME's rugby experts analyse the first two rounds of Super Rugby Transtasman.
Will an Australian team win a game?
Dylan Cleaver: Yes, probably. There could even be one in week three. The draw has not done the Chiefs any favours and another niggly haul, this time to Townsville to facean embarrassed Reds team who admit they were punched in the face by the Crusaders, might be a potential upset. If not there, you'd expect the Brumbies to give the Hurricanes and Highlanders a decent shake when they finally get home to Canberra's frozen tundra.
Elliott Smith: Yes - the Brumbies are hard to beat in Canberra so think they're a chance of beating the Canes or Highlanders in the last fortnight. I suspect there is another genuine unforeseen upset coming too but I might be too optimistic.
Brian Ashby: It's hard to see an Aussie team winning, with their best chance being when the Brumbies host the Hurricanes next week. It's never easy to win in Canberra, but given the way the Chiefs dealt to the Brumbies, it looks as if they put everything into what they hoped was a hungover Crusaders side. With Ardie Savea looking closer to a return, I don't think there's much for Brumbies fans to enthuse about.
Matt Brown: Yes, I think the Brumbies will be hard to beat in Canberra and they face the Hurricanes and Highlanders there in the last two rounds. They will win one of them. But that could just about be it for the Australian sides.
Lachlan Waugh: No. I did think the Force had a good chance across their first couple of home games, with the travel factor really throwing the New Zealand sides off. But the Chiefs and Highlanders both overcame that. You can circle the Reds-Blues and Brumbies-Hurricanes ties in round four as possible upsets. But other than that, I just can't see it.
Blues captain Tom Robinson leads the Blues out during the SKY Super Rugby Trans-Tasman rugby match between the Blues and the Waratahs. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Two weeks in, What mark out of 10 do you give the Super Rugby Transtasman tournament?
Dylan Cleaver: About 4.5 with potential to swing wildly either way. A big part of me wants to give it as many marks out of 10 as there have been Australian franchise wins but... after seeing the results from week two, I'm more tempted to give it more time. There's a slowly unfolding car-crash element to this and I want to see if the Australian teams can avoid it. There's also this crazy opportunity for an unfancied New Zealand team - Hurricanes and Highlanders anybody - to bully their way to an unexpected final berth.
Elliott Smith: A 3/10. Funnily enough the same number of contests in the opening fortnight.
Brian Ashby: 5/10. Yeah it's a low mark, but it's not the fault of New Zealand Rugby that the Australian sides are so rubbish.
Matt Brown: 4/10. Any tournament needs to be competitive and the reality is this is one sided. The finalists will be two NZ teams and determined by bonus points, points difference.
Lachlan Waugh: 6/10. It became a bit tasteless watching New Zealand derbies week after week over the last 12 months, so to see our Super Rugby sides taking on some of their old rivals is great. The triple-headers on Saturdays are also a big winner for me. Though that does little to gloss over how lopsided most of the contests have been. Matches going down to the wire are hard to come by.
Charlie Gamble of the Waratahs. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Should the Super Rugby Transtasman title count as a 'real' title?
Dylan Cleaver: Surprisingly good question, this one. It has to, really. It can't just disappear into the ether and we pretend it never happened (though I'm guessing that's exactly what Australian Rugby would like to happen). It's a title, but it comes with the caveat that it has limited integrity. It's possible - maybe even probable - that an unbeaten team will miss the final simply because they didn't win by enough, immediately trampling all over the old adage: a win's a win.
Elliott Smith: No. This is no unification contest. No Super Bowl. Whoever wins this comp will have probably won a tough final but faced 5 weeks of captain's runs disguised as matches. The internal competitions will be seen as the real titles and I suspect Australia will feel the same way too.
Brian Ashby: Yes it's a real title. Let's celebrate the excellence of our teams. The fact that Australian rugby has destroyed the base of their pyramid is their problem, and their problem to fix. The Lions played most of the 2017 final with 14 men- the Crusaders count that as a real title, with many now highlighting that as their best ever victory.
Matt Brown: Not a Super Rugby title, let's face it the pandemic has led to this and we hope it is a one-off format.
Lachlan Waugh: Not really. I wasn't a fan of calling the Super Rugby Aotearoa titles 'real', and I'll apply the same framework to this. If New Zealand and Australian teams played their domestic rivals as well then it's a different conversation.
Richie Mo'unga of the Crusaders scores a try during the round two Super Rugby Trans-Tasman match between the Queensland Reds and the Crusaders. Photo / Getty Images.
Does this mean the Bledisloe Cup is certain to stay in New Zealand?
Dylan Cleaver: No, it doesn't. I have a lot of faith in Dave Rennie to mobilise the talent he has at his disposal and come up with an ultra-competitive Wallabies unit. A decent analogy is the Black Caps. By international standards, New Zealand's cricket talent pool is neck-breakingly shallow, yet they have enough good players to form formidable test and white-ball sides. There is a smaller rugby talent pool in Australia (obviously) but not necessarily at the top end. That two of the three Bledisloe Cup tests are played in New Zealand doesn't help Australia, however.
Elliott Smith: Not necessarily. There's (at least) 23 good players playing in Australia, it's just that they are spread out among five teams. Bring them together and they are capable of beating the All Blacks...on their day.
Brian Ashby: No. Dave Rennie is a sharp operator, and while the overall depth of Australian rugby is lacking, they can still piece together a good enough national side. Yes the All Blacks are the warm favourites, as they were last year, but how beaten up will our top players be after Super Rugby? The Wallabies will be a little bit encouraged by last year's results, just a little bit.
Matt Brown: Not certain but with two tests of the three here likely, Rennie only has to find 23 Wallabies. Super Rugby is not test rugby. I remember the 1998 Crusaders v Blues Super 12 final, then the All Blacks lost five in a row.
Lachlan Waugh: Yes, but this tournament isn't the deciding factor. Australian rugby is, and will continue to be weaker as it doesn't have the depth and demand to play that New Zealand does. It feels like that has never been truer than right now, and it's a big thing to overcome in a short space of time.
