Super Rugby: 5 Things We Learnt From Qualifiers

1     Brumbies captain Stephen Moore understands law 21.2 (a) better than Super Rugby, Test, and World Cup referee Jaco Peyper. Despite Moore trying to correct him, Peyper insisted on moving a defensive penalty awarded to the Stormers from close to the corner flag where the infringement took place, forward to the 5-metre line and across to 5 metres in from touch, when law 21.2 (a) states that it is only an attacking penalty within 5 metres of the opponents’ goal line that has to be moved back to the 5m-line (and not brought in from near touch at all). Moore was correct in that a penalty 99m from the opponents’ goal line does not get moved.

2     Any team beating the Highlanders in the playoffs is going to have to win the game by dominating up front. Their backline is brilliant. Aaron Smith and Ben Smith are playing at their sublime best, and Malakai Fekitoa, Lima Sopoaga, Waisake Naholo, and Patrick Osborne are all lethal on attack too.

3     It appeared for a while during the 18 Rounds of the competition that if the 2015 All Blacks were to have any weakness, it may have been at hooker – with 36 year old Keven Mealamu well past his best – but with the return to strong form of Dane Coles, and Hika Elliot offering an excellent performance for the Chiefs again on Saturday, this should no longer be a concern.

4     Sometimes coaches get their substitutions just so wrong. The Stormers kept hooker Bongi Mbonambi on the field far too long before bringing Scarra Ntubeni on, despite Mbonambi’s horrendous lineout throwing-in, and substituted the best scrummaging props in Super Rugby 2015, Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe, too early.

5     On the evidence of their magnificent performance for the Brumbies on Saturday, their loose-forwards could play Test matches as a starting trio for the Wallabies this year. David Pocock is an openside icon, Scott Fardy was superb at blindside, and number 8 Ita Vaea – who missed the entire 2013 and 2014 seasons with a life-threatening heart condition – dominated the Stormers defence.