Phil Gifford presents eight talking points from this round of Super Rugby Pacific.
What's wrong with this picture?
Here's how crossing the Tasman was supposed to work for New Zealand teams in Super Rugby Pacific: Our best sides, the Blues and the Crusaders, would win by cricket scores. Thestruggling Highlanders would finally wrack up a string of wins.
Oops. The Blues have won twice now, albeit not convincingly, and in a half-full suburban league ground in west Sydney the Crusaders were beaten on Saturday by the Waratahs, the mob who had lost the last 11 games they'd played against New Zealand sides.
Any Kiwi complacency surely ended in the scenes of near hysteria at Leichhardt Oval as the Waratahs celebrated.
Red-line fever
Red cards for high shots continue to haunt the game. Crusader Hamish Dalzell was marched in Sydney after a head clash that left Waratahs captain Michael Hooper dazed, and unable to play on. Dalzell was in the squad because captain Scott Barrett is the middle of a four-week ban for a high tackle.
The issue is massive, because for more than a decade coaches have encouraged players to forgo low tackles. Increased skills in the professional game have seen attackers, like Sonny Bill Williams, offload the ball as they're tackled round the legs.
A World Rugby trial in 2018, making it illegal to tackle above the nipple line on a player's chest, fizzled out.
Head injuries are too serious to ignore, but red cards aren't the best answer either. Lowering the target area for the tackle needs another look.
Scavengers rule
The Crusaders did themselves no favours with countless unforced errors, but it was fitting that in the last frantic minutes the Waratahs clung to their 24-21 lead with the help of a brilliant turnover by loose forward Charlie Gamble. Throughout the match Gamble, who was once a superstar at Christchurch's St Bede's College, and the brilliant Hooper disrupted the Crusaders at the breakdown, never allowing the Crusaders to develop a flow on attack.
He is the real deal
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck looked like the real deal against the Force. Photo / Getty
Watching Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's dazzling performance in the Blues' stuttering 22-18 win against the Force, it's clear he's racing towards an All Blacks jersey. Defensively he's impeccable, and his step and offload to give wing AJ Lam the chance to dive in for a 30th-minute try were touches of sheer beauty.
More honesty from the coach
"Ugly but important" was how Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan, probably the straightest shooter in Super Rugby, described his team's 27-25 win against the Reds in Brisbane.
There was way too much kicking, especially in the first half, for this to be a game that won the heart, but for the Chiefs the key issue is that they're now lying fourth on the Super table, which is where a team need to be to earn a home quarter-final in June.
A slow-burning fuse
Moana Pasifika and the Rebels trudged through 60 minutes of tedium, with the first four tries all from rolling mauls, before a hectic, exciting last quarter. At 61 minutes the Rebels, inside their 22, exploded into action. A sweeping move ended when fullback Reece Hodge bounced a pass to wing Andrew Kellaway who dived in at the corner. As they do, Moana fought back, but the Rebels clung on to win 26-22.
If Moana ever catch a break it might be on Saturday at Mt Smart, if the Waratahs are even slightly still in party mode.
On the other hand
Fiji have uncovered another flying wing in Vinaya Habosi. Photo / Getty
A sell-out, wildly enthusiastic crowd in Suva got the game, if not the result, the occasion deserved as the Highlanders edged an exciting Fijian Drua, 27-24.
In 22-year-old Vinaya Habosi, Fiji have produced yet another superstar wing, whose ability to beat tackles is matched by blinding speed.
No question about heart
The Brumbies cemented their place as the best Australian side with a 42-25 sunny Sunday afternoon victory over the Hurricanes in Canberra.
Full credit to the Brumbies, but the Canes showed a heap of courage, in a game where the score gave a false impression. In the dying moments the Brumbies' Hudson Creighton scored the most dubious try awarded this year. There looked to be clear air between the ball and Creighton as he dived for the line. To be blunt, the video would make a great SpecSavers commercial.
