Super Rugby 2015: how your Australian team measured up against the rest

Christy Doran
FOX SPORTS
July 01, 2015 3:17PM


SUPER Rugby is over for 2015 — well for Australia’s five provincial teams anyway.

And while Australia had two teams make the last four, an achievement for the Brumbies and Waratahs, after the highs of 2014 Australia’s Super Rugby season didn’t seem super after all.

The Waratahs never quite got a full head of steam going; the Brumbies again fell short when it counted; the Rebels over-achieved and the Force underwhelmed; while the Reds never woke from their nightmare of a season.

We take a look at the year that was for the five Australian provincial teams and what your club must prioritise for 2016.


Waratahs: Unfulfilled.

Position: semi-finals. Rating — 7/10

The year that was: Seen as a bunch of underachievers before Michael Cheika took hold of the team and grabbed them by the scruff of their necks, the Waratahs got the monkey of their back in 2014 by winning their first Super Rugby title since the inception of Super Rugby in 1996.

And with virtually the same pool of players to draw upon — except for Kane Douglas — the Waratahs were expected to feature prominently again. But as the Brumbies and Reds would testify, winning consecutive crowns isn’t an easy thing to do.

The Waratahs crashed to the Force in the opening round at home and never truly looked settled in 2015.

Their second defeat to the Force three months later proved that the Waratahs’ issues weren’t just one-off blemishes and momentary lapses of concentration and detail, but rather fundamental flaws in their game. They had become too one-dimensional and were stifled at the breakdown; a side unable to shift gears and move from one plan to another.

Nor could the Waratahs blame their unfilled season on injuries. The Waratahs for much of the year used only a small group of players. Only Tatafu Polota-Nau and Adam Ashley-Cooper spent any significant time on the sidelines.

If 2015 proved one thing, it was that when the critics started to crawl back, the Tahs usually shot back to prove the doubters wrong.

Two memorable performances against the Brumbies, a win in Wellington against the Hurricanes and another against the Crusaders in Sydney were proof that the Waratahs could still match it with the best, but those matches were too few and far between.

Priorities for 2016: After years learning the coaching trade under Todd Blackadder at the Crusaders and three seasons with Michael Cheika at the Waratahs, former Crusader and All Black Daryl Gibson takes over the head-coaching role.

Gibson will look to carry out the legacy that Cheika left and continue to play the attacking brand of rugby the Waratahs have become known for. The Waratahs said goodbye to more than 400 caps of experience with the departures of Test regulars Adam Ashley-Cooper, Wycliff Palu, Sekope Kepu and Brenden McKibbon and will look to blood the new generation of Waratahs in Jack Dempsey and Andrew Kellaway.



Brumbies: Close, but no cigar.

Position: semi-finals. Rating — 7.5/10

The year that was:

Stephen Larkham looked to put his own stamp on the Brumbies in 2015 after taking the reins of the Brumbies after the departure of Lawrie Fisher and looked to turn the team into genuine contenders after falling short in years gone by.

But once again the Brumbies were bumped out during the semi-finals, after narrowly missing out on a home semi-final.

Long-term injuries to significant personal — Tevita Kuridrani, Scott Sio, Matt Toomua, Nic White and Jesse Mogg — and a string of narrow losses didn’t help the cause. The Brumbies lost five games by five points or less.

Nor did two tough losses to domestic rivals the Waratahs help the Brumbies quest to become Super Rugby’s champions for the first time since 2004. The Waratahs lifting particularly in defence to stifle the Brumbies attack.

Ultimately though, the Brumbies will rue a poor mid-season period where they lost five of seven matches.

The Brumbies set-piece was both their strength and weakness throughout the season. Wonderful at the lineout and maul; but inconsistent at the scrum, Scott Sio’s injury didn’t help the scrum and he wasn’t able to capture the same lofty heights once he returned late in the season.

Highlight: Trouncing the Stormers at Newlands in Cape Town to reach the semi-finals.

Priorities: Nic White is gone and the Brumbies look set to invest in their young talent. Since being plucked by head-coach Stephen Larkham at a second-grade game in Sydney in 2013, Michael Dowsett has been White’s deputy.

However, Australian under 20s halfback Joe Powell could be set to upstage Dowsett, after the latter fumbled his way through three matches in 2015 and was made to look like a schoolboy.



Rebels: On the up.

Position: 10th. Rating — 6/10

The year that was: The Rebels finished 10th in the competition standings and third in the Australian conference, which was a fair reflection of where they were at in 2015.

But after the disappointment of 2014, where the side managed just four victories, Tony McGahan’s men were the big movers in 2015.

The Rebels had memorable wins against the Crusaders, Chiefs, Brumbies and Bulls, and will continue to improve under McGahan who will begin preparations for his third season in charge of Australia’s youngest franchise.

The Rebels’ backrow was a feature of their play in 2015 and along with their young developing halves — Nick Stirzaker and Jack Debreczeni — will continue to improve with experience.

The addition of James Hanson will bolster the Rebels’ pack in 2016 and should help with the Rebels’ lineout, which was statistically the worst across the competition winning just 79.7 per cent of their own throws.

Highlight: A historic first club win overseas over the 2014 Super Rugby finalists, the Canterbury Crusaders, in the opening round of the season.

Priorities: The development of the clubs halves, Stirzaker and Debreczeni. Every great Super Rugby club has a fabulous pair of halves to call upon.

The Hurricanes have had TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett to call upon in 2015, as have the Highlanders with Aaron Smith and Lima Sopoaga. The Waratahs had the Wallabies combination of Phipps and Foley in 2014, and previously to that the Reds had Genia and Cooper in 2011.

The Rebels need Debreczeni to continue to mature. He drifted between fullback and five-eighth in 2015 and needs to grow as a leader so to direct the team about.



Reds: The Reds’ season was nothing short of a disaster.

Position: 13th. Rating — 2.5/10

The year that was:

After being handed a 47-3 drubbing in the opening round of the season by the Brumbies, the Reds’ season went from bad to worse with the fiasco surrounding Karmichael Hunt’s experimentation with cocaine.

While the Reds were certainly hampered by injuries to key players in 2015, namely Quade Cooper, who missed the bulk of the season, the Reds were horrible in 2015.

They were a team that embodied a side not giving it everything and a team that had lost complete confidence in its coach.

But the question that the Reds’ board has to justify is why they signed Richard Graham in 2013?

Graham was signed by the Reds to take over the reins from Ewen McKenzie after two unsuccessful years at the Force with a win record of seven from 24, or 29 per cent.

And since taking complete control of the coaching ranks at Ballymore in 2014, his record drops to just nine wins from 32 games or 28 per cent.

Highlight: The return of Quade Cooper in Perth, when he put on a dazzling performance and scored 22-points, including two tries, to lead the Reds to a 22-point win.

Priorities: To keep a low profile and steadily build.

The departures of Will Genia, Quade Cooper and James Horwill at the end of the 2015 season signalled the end of an era. They now have the opportunity to promote its youth and re-establish a successful and proud culture to be a part of.

Samu Kerevi’s debut season was the brightest thing to come out of a horrendous year. The Reds won’t win a competition on the back of Kerevi, but they can and should promote the damaging runner as a colt figure within the side.

Liam Gill’s re-signing at the end of the season too was vitally significant for the Reds going forward.

Former Reds and Wallabies coach John Connolly is back at Ballymore and he will be joined by Brad Thorn and Damien Marsh in 2016. The future of Richard Graham though, remains unclear.



Force: Underwhelming.

Position: 15th. Rating — 3/10

The year that was: They were the surprise package of 2014 when they fell two points shy of the play-offs, but seemed to go backwards in 2015.

The Force did, however, start the season in the brightest of fashion downing the defending champions in Sydney.

But their success would be short lived and they went onto win just another two matches in 2015.

Without influential captain and openside flanker Matt Hodgson for the first-half of the season, the Force struggled to compete and lacked leadership.

They also failed to put points on the board, scoring just 28 tries — the least by any team in the competition.

Ben McCalman again stood out for the Force leading the way with ball carries. Club coach Michael Foley would undoubtedly have been buoyant by his decision to stay with the club for another three years.

Highlight: Defeating the defending premiers — the Waratahs — on both occasions in 2015.

Priorities: Two time World Cup winning centre Tim Horan said at the end of the 2015 season that the Force needed to invest in another fly-half.

The recent departure of fly-half Sias Ebersohn, who is returning to his native South Africa, only amplifies that call.

Zack Holmes remains at the Force (really Christy, you had better let Zack know), but to turnaround their fortunes the Force need someone with some creativity to complement the Force’s forward pack. Quade Cooper?


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