Super Rugby: Letting the side down - woeful Australian teams 0-6 against foreign teams this season

Allan Alaalatoa is dejected after losing to the Highlanders in the final seconds. Photo / Photosport

Super Rugby's last three matches of the round all produced remarkable comebacks, two of which extended Australia's woeful record against overseas teams this season.

They are now 0-6 against the Kiwis, South Africans, Argentines and Japanese, an inequity which is doing little for the competition.

Teariki Ben-Nicholas, a replacement loose forward, was the hero for the Highlanders in their victory over the Brumbies in Canberra when he was driven over for a try nearly three minutes after the full-time siren.

It was a try that should have resonated for the Brumbies' pack, who are continuing a reputation as a group who have never seen an attacking lineout they didn't want to form a rolling maul from. Josh Ioane's conversion sealed the 23-22 victory.

In Johannesburg, the Stormers pulled off a similarly late comeback against the Lions for their first win in the city for five years. Two tries, a conversion and a penalty within the final 12 minutes appeared to give the Lions an unassailable lead at Ellis Park before Ruhan Nel's converted try more than a minute after the final hooter silenced the crowd. The Stormers won 33-30.

And in Buenos Aires the Reds let a 24-7 halftime lead slip to lose 43-27 to the Jaguares, a reversal which owed much to the home side's fondness for a rolling maul, the Red's second-half naivety, and Argentina referee Federico Anselmi's 13-3 penalty count in favour of the Jaguares.

The Sunwolves, in their final season of the competition, set the tone in round one with their victory over the Rebels in Fukuoka. Since then the Waratahs have lost to the Crusaders and Blues, the Reds have lost to the Lions and Jaguares, and the Brumbies have lost to the Highlanders.

Neither the Reds nor the Waratahs have won a game this season, a state of affairs that should concern a union in the midst of negotiations for a new broadcasting deal, not to mention new Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, who may inherit a squad of players low on confidence ahead of the Bledisloe Cup series which kicks off in Melbourne on August 8.

But it's clearly not good for the competition either. When fewer than 14,000 spectators attend the Chiefs-Crusaders match at Waikato Stadium, a highly anticipated derby at one of the best rugby grounds in the country, and a similar number watch the Blues against the Crusaders at Eden Park, a struggling Aussie side is hardly going to pack them in.

A reported crowd of just over 7000 watched the Blues beat the Waratahs at Newcastle's McDonald Jones Stadium in round two, while 18,000 watched the Chiefs beat the Sunwolves at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo at the weekend.

Rugby is in the ascendancy in Japan, and yet the Sunwolves are about to be axed. It makes as much sense as a certain penalty count over the weekend. The Aussies need to pick their game up.