Most even of battlegrounds?
One aspect that has been touted since Super Rugby introduced the Conference system was that some countries may have easier routes to glory within their own borders.
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Playing each side within your own Conference, home and away, was – in a conspiracy theorist manner – what some spectators remarked made it easier for the Reds to win their maiden championship in 2011 as they played the Rebels, Force and Brumbies (three of the bottom four overall franchises last year).
However this season the simple reality is that the Australian Conference, with only seven points separating ‘number one’ to ‘number five’, has become a vastly different battleground this season.
It began with the Rebels winning back-to-back games for the first time at AAMI Park, at the expense of the three-time champion Blues.
Continuing their good form – their heavy second half blowout to the Highlanders aside – the Rebels looked threatening with their unholy trinity of Danny Cipriani, James O’Connor and Kurtley Beale united for the first time this season.
Add to this a pack that has matched most of their rivals so far this campaign, and the Rebels will be bullish that they may be about to turn the corner, but with little consistency in their short history so far, how they perform against the Conference front running Brumbies will be key.
Falling to the Reds at Suncorp Stadium for the first time in history, the Brumbies put in arguably their most lacklustre performance over the weekend, as the desperate champions broke a three match losing streak to get their season back on track.
The Brumbies have followed suit of every beaten team this season and already began some serious soul searching, with coach Jake White saying his team were in awe in front of the cavernous colosseum in Brisbane, while forward’s coach Laurie Fisher fired up a rocket by saying his charge needed to be “harder”.
While the post-mortems continue in Canberra, the Reds take a week off in week eight, while it was confirmed that star playmaker Quade Cooper is targeting May 13 against the Chiefs as his official return.
The Force were competitive against the Chiefs, but ultimately came off a distant second against the New Zealand Conference leaders, although once again the men from Perth showed their prowess up front.
Once again the Force struggled with their attack out wide, although their cohesion and threat seems to be increasing with the rise of players like Brett Sheehan, Nick Cummins and David Harvey.
With the Perth based outfit unable to turn the brilliant showings by Nathan Sharpe, Pek Cowan and David Pocock into competition wins, they show the ability to compete with any other side as well as spoil up front.
The Waratahs will have to combat that threat in front of a boisterous Force crowd, with the hosts in the midst of a home run they will want to convert to wins – while making it back to back victories over NSW.
The fact that Michael Foley and his troops had a week off meant that some of the intense scrutiny that comes with wearing the sky blue has eased off, but with the Waratahs losing to the Force in Sydney earlier in the tournament, surely revenge will have been spoken of.
The fortnight’s rest doesn’t hide the fact that the Waratahs are sitting with just two wins from six matches.
If the improving Force and Rebels (NSW opponent in week nine) can inflict further pain on the Waratahs, then the statement that this conference may be the closest may continue to ring true.
Australian Conference, Week Seven:
Rebels 34 – 23 Blues
Reds 20 – 13 Brumbies
Force 12 – 20 Chiefs
Australian Conference, Week Eight:
Friday 13 April
Force v Waratahs, Perth, 19:10
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistant Referee: Ian Smith
Assistant Referee: Julian Pritchard
TMO: George Ayoub
Saturday 14 April
Brumbies v Rebels, Canberra, 19:40
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant Referee: James Leckie
Assistant Referee: Damien Mitchelmore
TMO: Steve Leszczynski