Pete Samu of the Wallabies in action against England. Photo / Getty
Pete Samu of the Wallabies in action against England. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
Wales were surprisingly inventive, New Zealand were clinical bordering on ruthless, but arguably the best performance of the first weekend of July test action came from the Wallabies who were brave, resourceful and resilient to beat England in Perth.
Just as the All Blacks have carried question marks overtheir physicality these past two years, so too have the Wallabies, who were under a similarly intense pressure to prove they had the hard edges required to end an eight-test losing run against England.
That they managed to out-muscle England was surprising enough, but that they managed to do it with just 14 men was quite incredible and while the 30-28 win was testament to their depth of character, so too was it a victory of sorts for Super Rugby Pacific.
That toughness that the Wallabies displayed in Perth was partly attributable to the exposure their players have had playing against New Zealand sides in Super Rugby.
Just as true, is that the hard edge the All Blacks showed in Auckland was partly attributable to the exposure their players have had to Australian sides, particularly the Brumbies and Waratahs who posed a stiff and different set-piece and breakdown challenge.
Super Rugby Pacific is by no means the perfect competition, but what became apparent over the course of the weekend is that it is doing a more than reasonable job in readying New Zealand and Australia's players for test action.
It would seem there are enough quality teams and players to pose the right variety of challenges and while the competition is renowned for the speed at which most games are played, it was notable how well both the Wallabies and All Blacks performed at set-piece.
Of course there has to be caution here, to not be overly swayed by the performances and results of one weekend, but there is certainly good reason to be confident that Super Rugby Pacific is finally in the right format and of sufficient quality as to be considered absolutely the right high performance vehicle for both New Zealand and Australia's elite players.
No one disputes that for a decade or more it was a bloated, broken mess of a thing that didn't serve the high performance or commercial needs of any of its member nations and probably, because of their ambition to have five teams, damaged Australian rugby more than it did either New Zealand, South Africa or Argentina.
But what was once broken is now mostly fixed and Australia has an opportunity to use a rejuvenated Super Rugby – which will be further strengthened in 2023 by the Drua playing their home games in Fiji – a British and Irish Lions tour and two home World Cups as the springboard from which they can make themselves great again.
Which takes us to the slightly weird and seemingly self-destructive claims of Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan a few weeks back that he's prepared to blow up Super Rugby Pacific and go it alone with a domestic professional competition.
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan. Photo / Getty
While such a move would most probably be commercially unsustainable, it would quite definitely be catastrophic from a high-performance perspective.
This would be one story where it is imperative that the facts get in the way of the truth. Rugby Australia would be condemning the Wallabies to a life of mediocrity if they pull out of Super Rugby Pacific.
There will be no more victories against England, or indeed against any of the serious heavyweight nations if Australia's players from 2024 are involved in a merry-go-round of playing only each other and maybe some new club teams cobbled together from the wider Asia Pacific region.
It's a nonsense to imagine that will prepare them for the likes of England or South Africa when they progress to the international stage and if McLennan follows through with his threat, he will become a modern day Icarus, toppled not by his vanity but his almost delusional ambition.
The Australians were justifiably upset last year when New Zealand Rugby somewhat disdainfully told them they could apply to have up to three teams in the new Super Rugby competition, but breaking away after next year would not serve to avenge the humiliation they felt, but would instead inflict yet more when their alternative competition inevitably implodes.
Together, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa can toughen each other, test each other and hold one another accountable to producing their best rugby.
Unity is the key to rugby in this part of the world getting stronger, or at least strong enough to be able to effectively compete with the North, whose club sides meet in cross-border competitions that ask all sorts of challenging tactical and strategic questions of each other.
If Australia want to blow their opportunity of a life-time that is looming, then they just need to walk out of Super Rugby Pacific and set up on their own.
It would be a seriously ill-advised decision and would kill their dreams of getting anywhere near winning a third World Cup.
