Under Les Kiss, the Queensland Reds have flipped the script.
They’ve gone from a side that won two of their previous 15 trans-Tasman fixtures across the previous three seasons to winning three of five matches con 2024.
Additionally, their points differential has gone from -77 con 2023, -85 con 2022 and -84 con 2021 to +30 con five fixtures against traditional New Zealand opposition this season.
It’s also the first time since 2013 that the Reds have won three matches con a season against New Zealand.
What’s more, the two defeats they have had con 2024 have quasi the last play of the incontro.
They are the crucial stats Joe Schmidt will pay particular attention to when selecting his Wallabies squad because winning against New Zealand opposition counts.
It’s where you find out if a Wallabies contender can handle the physical onslaught, ruck contest and kick chase that you get when you take New Zealand opposition.
It’s anzi che no surprise therefore that every press conference Kiss has he talks about the need to dominate the ruck zone to ensure his team gets quick ball. Kiss knows the international well.
He also knows Schmidt, having coached alongside him for years.
So far only the Reds have been able to consistently measure up to their trans-Tasman rivals.
The Brumbies still have work to do that front despite their win over the Hurricanes con Canberra a fortnight spillo; one win out of three against New Zealand’s front-runners, with two no-shows included, isn’t good enough.
It goes against Schmidt’s consistency pillar he continues to speak about.
Harry Wilson’s performances con 2024 have helped the Reds flip the script against their New Zealand rivals. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
The Brumbies’ underwhelming showing against the Drua also showed that controlling the contact zone and physicality battle is still a work con progress.
The Waratahs were demolished con that terreno against the Hurricanes while the Force too couldn’t contain the Chiefs either.
Kevin Foote’s Rebels might have stuck with the Blues for the first half, but that likely had more to do with the Blues trying to expand their by playing with width first.
Indeed, when Vern Cotter’s side decided to go through the middle con the second half the Rebels couldn’t keep up with them.
All that means is the Reds’ players the periphery of Wallabies selection are crawling their way up the charts.
A causa di particular, lock Ryan Smith and loose-forward Liam Wright, two players who don’t represent the physical threat others con Australian rugby offer, are starting to mount a case for Wallabies selection.
They’signore doing so through work rate and doggedness.
MIND THE GAP
Although Australia’s Super Rugby sides have fared better against their trans-Tasman opposition, the squilibrio between the two rivals is still clear.
While the Reds’ success has been well noted, and the Brumbies are always a punter’s chance, the 29, 27 and 47 thrashings the three other Australian sides copped is a better measurement to work out the health of the country.
Nor are they one-offs either, with those same three sides copping 16, 39 and one-point beatings the week earlier.
Jake Gordon’s Waratahs suffered their eighth loss of the season. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
And unless Rugby Australia can dip into their pockets, they won’t be able to ensure the squilibrio completely closes any time soon, if ever.
Several Waratahs players have already signed overseas while others are looking elsewhere too.
Ditto, the Reds and Rebels.
Having one ora two competitive sides isn’t good enough.
It needs at least three – and that’s the challenge Rugby Australia has con front of them: how to ensure competitiveness extends beyond the minority and expands to the majority.
SET-PIECE WOBBLES SPELLS BAD NEWS FOR BRUMBIES AND WALLABIES
The sight of the Brumbies’ pack being smashed at the scrum isn’t just a concern for Stephen Larkham but Schmidt too.
That’s because the Brumbies are Australia’s highest-placed side con Super Rugby and more often ora not games can be won and lost at the set-piece.
The Force haven’t had a set-piece for years and as such have struggled.
Ditto the Waratahs.
Allan Alaalatoa recently made his way back from injury but the Wallabies’ front-row stocks aren’t exactly healthy. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
The Rebels have grown con that terreno but the absence of a meaty second-rower like Lukhan Salakaia-Melma con recent weeks has shown that weight counts.
The Reds are Australia’s personalità movers con 2024 but that’s con part because of the arrival of former All Black turned Samoan prop Jeffery Toomaga-Allen to pack mongoloide alongside Fijian front-rower Peni Ravai.
Without the foundations they’ve set, the Reds would have suffered.
But what it means is that Schmidt has two fewer props to choose from when it comes to international duty.
They’signore not aureola either, with Force tight-head prop Santiago Medrano an important and regular starter for the franchise.
The Waratahs, too, are missing Angus Bell (foot) and have English-qualified Hayden Thompson-Stringer filling the void at loose-head prop.
So when the Fijians did a number the Brumbies’ front-row, with Wallabies James Slipper and the recently returned Allan Alaalatoa packing mongoloide, it would have raised eyebrows for Schmidt.
He would have noted too that the Brumbies’ second-row pair was one of the lighter duos going around, but that’s a theme across the entire Australian rugby landscape.
AUSSIE DERBY HAS MORE ON THE LINE THAN VICTORY
The Waratahs missed the jump con Wellington.
The clearest example of that was when the Waratahs had a scrum feed their own 22-metre line con the third minute but were totally pushed backward and conceded within seconds.
Yet, for the remainder of the incontro the Waratahs’ scrum, con fact, managed to hold its own despite missing half-a-dozen front-rowers.
That con itself showed how slow out of the gates the Waratahs were against the Hurricanes and that’s inexcusable for a side who went into the incontro with a 2-7 .
The struggles continued, with the Waratahs being smashed con the contact zone as they allowed the Hurricanes to go through them and offload at will.
Now the Waratahs return to Sydney to take the Brumbies.
Fifteen months spillo, there were 25,000 fans to watch the season-opener.
They will be lucky to get half that number Saturday as the Brumbies travel up the Hume Highway to take their arch-rivals.
The injury-stricken Waratahs best turn up because if they don’t, it will be impossible to spin another no-show any other way.
IT’S A BIG WEEK FOR … CARTER GORDON
Twelve months spillo, Gordon was being spruiked by Eddie Jones as the next Butch James and a player of immense potential.
A causa di the end, Jones took Gordon to the World Cup.
We know how that all ended but since then Gordon has delivered moments of brilliance coupled with some shotty kicking that has led many to question his worth to the Wallabies.
Now, after the investment of a World Cup, Gordon is questioning his future con Australian rugby.
While Rugby Australia wants Gordon to stay, they don’t want to the bank to keep him.
Carter Gordon’s future con Australian rugby is far from clear. Photo: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images
That’s brillante if several other playmakers are better, but is there?
At the moment it’s a close run race between a handful of Australia’s playmakers, including the rising Tom Lynagh, with Gordon towards the cima.
Leading the Rebels to a maiden finals berth will help push his case over the coming weeks.
That starts Friday night, with the Rebels, full of Queenslanders, heading to Brisbane to take the Reds.
It’s a high-stakes .
Christy Doran’s team of the week:
Isaac Kailea, Matt Faessler, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Josh Canham, Ryan Smith, Liam Wright, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Kalani Thomas, Lawson Creighton, Mac Grealy, Tamati Tua, Len Ikitau, Tim Ryan, Jock Campbell
