Super Rugby kicks off with high hopes of Australian drought being broken

The Guardian

12-02-2025

The most important Wallabies winter in two decades kicks off this weekend when Australia's Super Rugby Pacific sides play their first games of the 2025 season. With all four state provinces reinforced by key players from the disbanded Melbourne Rebels, hopes have never been higher for a first local champion in 11 years.
The trophy cabinet at Rugby Australia headquarters desperately needs new tenants. Although the Wallabies won back the Ella-Mobbs silverware with their season-high triumph over England in November, the Bledisloe Cup hasn't been seen hereabouts since 2003 when the Rugby World Cup, resident for eight years of the 90s, also left.
A Super Rugby Pacific trophy in June would supercharge Australian rugby for the triple-header series against the British & Irish Lions in July and the tune-up against Fiji a fortnight prior. Then comes Rugby Championship duels against the world champion South Africa (both away Tests), Argentina (both home) and New Zealand (in Auckland and Perth).
Those 10 Tests will be Joe Schmidt's last as Wallabies coach. By the time Australia travel to Japan to take on Eddie Jones's Brave Blossoms, a new coach will be in charge of the national side, preparing for the first 2026 Nations Championship between Europe and the Rest of the World, and the 2027 World Cup on home soil.
The hunt for a new Wallabies coach adds a new level of intrigue to the Super Rugby Pacific season. All Australia's Super coaches are strong contenders for the top job with Les Kiss at the Queensland Reds, Dan McKellar at NSW Waratahs and Stephen Larkham at the ACT Brumbies the frontrunners, and each boasts a side studded with Wallabies.
A raft of new law tweaks should suit the all-out attack of the Australian sides too. Conversion times have been cut from 90 seconds to 60 and there is more protection for scrum halves to kick or clear. A call of 'play on' for wonky lineout throws will quicken the flow of the game and reduce stoppages for faster resumptions of play.
New Waratahs coach McKellar has assembled a formidable group for NSW, with 13 Wallabies in the side to take on the Hurricanes at home on Friday night. After an injury-decimated 2024 which saw them collect the wooden spoon, the Tahs have revamped their playing roster, backroom staff, coaching team, even the training field.
They have an all-gold front row of Angus Bell, Dave Porecki and Taniela Tupou, and speed to burn in the backline with fullback Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, wings Andrew Kellaway and Max Jorgensen and midfield charger Lalakai Foketi. If McKellar can get them firing within his famous set-piece systems, a rags-to-riches story could unfold.
Kiss's first year in charge of the Reds delivered a fifth-place finish in 2024, their best result since 2013, and has Queenslanders dreaming of a first Super title since 2011. Australia's best attacking outfit have added Matt Gibbon, Filipo Daugunu, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Josh Canham to the arsenal in a stacked side of 18 Wallabies.
A kind 2025 draw gifts the Reds a first round bye then four games against last season's bottom four sides. It sets them up sweetly for a run to the finals, with try-scoring freak Tim Ryan capable of rivalling Suaalii as a Wallabies posterboy and proven leaders in Wallabies skipper and Fraser McReight.
Stephen Larkham's Brumbies enter 2025 as the most settled of the Australian sides. They have 14 Australian internationals in their squad, including playmaker Noah Lolesio, whose 87% record off the kicking tee saw the Brumbies go unbeaten at home last year. After three semi-finals in three years, 'Bernie' has them poised to go one better in 2025.
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However, they are missing two-time John Eales medallist Rob Valetini at No 8 for the opening rounds and the fact they lost 27% of all their scrums last year gives them a curious weakness to fix with a tight-five that looks a little underweight, despite a hungry horde of locks and loose units in Charlie Cale, Nick Frost and Tom Hooper.
The Western Force are the dark horses in Australia's stable. However, staying in Australia for the first four rounds and a fistful of winnable games, give them a good chance to start fast and set the running. Even if Simon Cron's side struggle early they have two home games either side of the mid-season bye to recover their wits.
The Force deserve some luck after a shocking run of injuries cruelled their 2024. Again they've recruited wisely, with Waratahs flyer Dylan Pietsch joining the ranks, hoping to spark off Indigenous talisman Kurtley Beale when he returns mid-season. Schmidt favourite Jeremy Williams, a break-out star in 2024, will lead their charge.
If Australia are to beat the Lions, rattle the Springboks and sweep the All Blacks this year and set themselves up for a shot at winning the World Cup on home turf, it has to start this weekend with regular and ruthless conquering of the New Zealand sides and the rising power of Fiji and Pasifika. The hunted must become the hunter.