Readers old enough to remember rugby from the amateur era will recall the phrase ‘you can throw a blanket all over them’. It was used as a term of endearment; a compliment for forward packs who were bound together tightly and effectively, every man doing his share of the hard grunt, nobody seagulling out in the backs.
That all changed when All Black hooker Sean Fitzpatrick discovered he could score tries for fun on the wing, and has evolved to the point where supremely conditioned athletes – no matter the number on the back of their jersey – spread themselves across the field laterally, or race back, James Slipper-style to claim a mark in the defensive 22.
Even if the blanket is out of vogue on today’s rugby pitches you can definitely throw one over the teams on The Rugby Championship ladder. Just two points separate the four sides; all now with two wins and two losses, and each with two matches left to play.
Australia sit at the top, courtesy of the two bonus points gained when Filipo Daugunu crossed late in their 28-26 loss to Argentina in Sydney. It’s a gross understatement to call the try controversial – perhaps a blanket had been thrown over TMO Glenn Newman’s monitor, obscuring his view of what was unquestionably a forward pass?
In what was another terrific advertisement for afternoon rugby, things started brightly for the hosts. Across the Lions series and early stage of this tournament, the Wallabies have struggled to get the ball into Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s hands early, but here it took just four minutes; Suaalii surely providing enough evidence to put any remaining doubters to bed.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of the Wallabies celebrates with teammates after scoring a try during The Rugby Championship match between Australia Wallabies and Argentina Pumas at Allianz Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
But just two minutes later, Julian Montoya taught Tane Edmed a lesson about how little time Test rugby affords you, and the Pumas set about constructing a match-winning lead.
It came the old-fashioned way, via the accumulation of penalty goals rather than tries. Not because the Pumas weren’t firing shots, but because some of their attack became too lateral, and because the Wallabies generously kept offering up gift points in sight of their posts.
One of those moments came in the 18th minute when an exposed Max Jorgensen stuck out a mitt to unlawfully block a Pumas’ attacking raid. Yes, I know it’s an unpopular law but this interpretation – applied in an identical situation later to Santiago Carreras – was entirely in line with what the law is trying to achieve; that is, to stamp out negative play and reward sides who shift the ball to wide-running players.
So inspiring in his sides’ dramatic comeback win last weekend in Townsville, captain Harry Wilson instead allowed himself to become frustrated, permanently stationing himself under the shade of referee Christophe Ridley’s outstretched arm, begging for understanding and clemency.
Yes, it’s a skipper’s job to bend the referee’s ear here and there, to point out the nefarious deeds of the opponent, or to try to prick a conscience and sow the seeds for a square-up penalty later.
But Wilson playing the same card over and over again for no result came across as whiney, and only highlighted just how reactive and unfocussed the Wallabies were. At least until the final quarter of an hour, when they finally shed their distractions and started playing football.
Andrew Kellaway and Daugunu crossed in quick succession, and even if there was a brief falter when Jeremy Williams gave away a dumb blocking penalty, Williams was good enough to fix his mistake at the next lineout maul.
The Pumas had consigned Pablo Matera to the bench in a ploy to avoid repeating last week’s second-half fade out, but it wasn’t proving enough to stop their inexperienced players freezing. With playmaker Carreras in the bin, the Pumas stopped playing to score.
Pablo Matera of Argentina passes the ball during The Rugby Championship match between Australia Wallabies and Argentina Pumas at Allianz Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
As it turned out, they just had enough in the bank. With Daugunu’s second try inexplicably standing, the Wallabies had one final possession with which to conjure a win, but the Pumas’ win was secured through one of their best defensive presses of the match.
One might say an injustice was avoided, and in terms of the match itself that is true. But with an eye to the bonus point situation, it wasn’t enough to calm Felipe Contepomi’s farm; the coach, for the second successive week, letting his displeasure at refereeing standards be known.
Notably, Contepomi was less forthcoming with solutions. Yes, the awarding of Daugunu’s try was an egregious error, but what stood out about this match was the speed of play and high amount of movement.
Interestingly, this is supposedly what fans have been asking for. How is it then, that so few people can make the connection that when a game is played in this manner – end-to-end at breakneck pace – that it’s nigh impossible for a single referee to be perfectly positioned every time, to make perfect decisions?
That’s certainly not a call for more officials, far from it. But the sooner fans, commentators and coaches accept the context in which rugby is performed, recognise that ‘consistency’ is relative, understand the law of swings and roundabouts and get on with enjoying things for what they are, the better off we’ll all be.
Said to be in the midst of a transition phase, it’s taken a little while for South Africa to showcase the style of game coach Rassie Erasmus has hinted and teased at. But their 43-10 showcase demolition of New Zealand in Wellington certainly married actions with words, with fans finally able to cotton on to what assistant coach Tony Brown was brought in to deliver.
The Springboks’ rampant performance was indeed a compelling blend of old and new. Brute strength and power, a rock-solid scrum, an intense commitment to put their opponent under defensive pressure and to scramble like demons in the backfield… all delivered by athletes with not only pace, skill and athleticism, but granted licence to express themselves.
Also impressive was the balance between fierce intensity – no clowning around with midfield lineouts – and calm assurance in the way they worked through multiple unplanned replacements whilst continuing to go up through their gears.
The scary thing is that this is exactly the type of game that was played by this years’ U20 World Cup winning South African team. We’re all going to get plenty of time to get used to more of it.
In a hot field of star performers, Cheslin Kolbe was right at the top of his game, with wing partner Ethan Hooker also impressive. Kolbe’s 24th minute intercept was a true 14-point try, but it was the duo’s clean execution in the aerial contests that stood them apart, and heaped misery upon the home side.
The All Blacks had done well to go into half-time ahead 10-7, finding the sweet spot in depth and width to deliver Leroy Carter an outstanding debut try, whilst repelling Kolbe and RG Snyman at the other end.
But things only got ugly after that as the Boks delivered a bashing up front and let the young pups off the leash.
As a rule, the All Blacks playing like Harlem Globetrotters works best from in front, from a position where a degree of dominance is already established. But when it’s employed as a method to chase the game from behind, or because the players seem bereft of other options, as was increasingly the case as the second half unfolded, it only served here to turn a bad loss into a miserable loss.
Despite the record losing margin (how many times in their history have the All Blacks conceded four tries in the final quarter?), this is far from the death-knell that some observers might believe. They’ll bounce back in a fortnight, just as every side has done throughout this tournament, particularly if they can resurrect a lineout which spectacularly imploded when the heat was applied.
That said, there are genuine concerns. Coach Scott Robertson faces an interesting challenge, one that, through his tenure so far, he has yet to come to grips with. Does he push on with the belief that, on their day, the All Blacks can and will ‘out-skill’ and outrun any opponent?
Or, if he wants to avoid having too many more results like this, does he install a few more proper hard nuts, who understand the graft and grit that defines Test rugby, and provide them with a game plan to suit?
Coach Scott Robertson of New Zealand looks on ahead of The Rugby Championship match between New Zealand All Blacks and South Africa Springboks at Sky Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
Over at the Women’s World Cup it was lights out for Australia, with the Wallaroos falling 46-5 to Canada. Their campaign adds up to one demolition of a woefully underfunded Samoa, two valiant but heavy defeats to higher-ranked England and Canada, and an exciting draw against the side ranked similarly to them, the USA.
In other words, no more or less than what was expected. Is that sufficient to leverage the opportunity to boost rugby that comes with hosting the next World Cup in 2029?
Not at all. With Rugby Australia having neither the money or inclination – or both – to substantially invest in women’s rugby (remember, Australia’s elite, semi-professional players play just four Super W matches plus finals), it’s hard to see how the gap to the better sides is going to be narrowed any time soon.
New Zealand fared better, defeating South Africa 46-17 to advance to the semi-finals, albeit there are injury concerns in their midfield, and Canada and England will not have missed the concession of three ‘throw a blanket over them’, pick-and-go tries.
The weekend also featured the opening round of Super Rugby AU which – unsurprisingly – mostly fell through the cracks when it came to engagement. For the record, the Force beat the Waratahs in Sydney, 24-3 while in Brisbane yesterday afternoon, the Reds knocked off the Brumbies 36-26.
Let’s be clear, this competition is well-intended and its benefits include more game time for Super Rugby squad players, a pathway step for the most talented and emerging club players, and an end to the need for individual franchises to undertake expensive overseas tours just to keep their squads connected. And hey, we’ll even look past the confusing, ‘way too much blue’ strip clash in the opening match.
But there are two important things this is not – it is definitely not ‘Super Rugby’ and it is not a fair dinkum, bona-fide competition.
Super Rugby is a brand developed in 1996, which quickly became established as the world’s premier professional franchise competition involving the leading players from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and later, Argentina, Japan and the Pacific Islands.
The lustre of that brand has dimmed over the years, but wherever it might sit relative to the best European competitions, Super Rugby still has currency and meaning. It is where Australia and New Zealand’s elite players reside and it holds the attention of broadcasters and fans for four and a half months of every year.
But under constant pressure from players courting overseas contracts, and the cost base for franchises significantly exceeding revenue, one would have thought that the ‘Super Rugby’ brand would need beefing up, not watering down.
This is rugby however; a sport that throughout the professional era, has determinedly sought to prove over and over it has little understanding of how to market itself and engage with audiences. Hence a game played on a suburban ground in Sydney, in front of a smattering of die-hards, between teams bereft of their best players, filling in time in a calendar dead patch, somehow comes to be called ‘Super Rugby’.
The same ‘Super Rugby’ that in four months will be seeking to capture the hearts of young fans, so as to align them with stars of the game like Suaalii, Jorgensen, Rob Valetini, Will Jordan, Wallace Sititi and others.
What kind of competition starts up seemingly out of the blue, runs concurrent with SANZAAR’s flagship Rugby Championship, the most interesting and competitive edition in years, if not ever, and runs for just four weeks? At the conclusion of which the players then head straight into… wait for it… pre-season training!
Yes, these players need more rugby together. Yes, Australian fans are desperate to connect with a meaningful domestic competition. And yes, the Wallabies of the future need a stage. But the timing needs to make sense, and the competition has to be credible.
By all means tack this piece onto the start or finish of Super Rugby Pacific. Where there is more meaning, context and natural flow. And if that runs into an international window, so be it. Europe’s competitions continue through those windows, where teams are forced to play some matches without their Test players.
But to conjure up a new competition that appears out of nowhere, that has little to no media presence, that will be gone as quickly as it appears, and to call it Super Rugby? Who exactly is buying that?