Can Australia really keep pace with New Zealand? Not if Super Rugby Trans-Tasman is anything to go by.
During last year’s Tri Nations, Dave Rennie’s young Australian side showed plenty of promise despite picking up a heavy defeat in Sydney and finishing bottom of the standings. That opening 5-43 loss to New Zealand was followed up by a fantastic 24-22 win in Bledisloe 2 in Brisbane before they drew with Argentina twice.
Most of the Wallabies on show were just greenhorns in Gold. Their burgeoning talent, coupled with the All Blacks’ tentativeness under Ian Foster, led to much optimism Down Under — particularly after the Suncorp performance.
There was hope that the dawn of the next Aussie golden generation was nigh, and that Rennie could mould a side capable of finally winning back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002, and (touch wood) possibly even Bill. And that hope rightly persists.
But following a Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition that saw Australia’s franchises win just two matches out of 25 against New Zealand opposition, the rain clouds look likely to persist. Franchise-level rugby may be an apple and Test footy an orange, but there’s no question that consistently beating the Kiwi Super Rugby teams would have given Australia a helluva confidence boost heading into the upcoming international season.
There’s been much made in the past of the country’s inability to field enough depth in quality across its five franchises to challenge New Zealand’s dominance, and this fact remains. Even Australia’s best-placed Super Rugby Trans-Tasman sides, the Brumbies and Reds, finished 14-points further back of New Zealand’s fifth, the Chiefs. And not many were surprised.
In 50/ 50 Tests, the All Blacks will continue to hold a crucial psychological advantage over the Wallabies if they’ve grown accustomed to beating the same Aussie players wearing Crusaders red or Hurricanes yellow over the preceding months.
There’s no short-term solution to Australia’s Super Rugby problem, and while it remains possible for the national side to bag the odd win over the All Blacks, the impact of these franchise results cannot be underestimated.
