If you sit on the hill long enough at Ballymore Stadium, you’ll see a parade of every new-tier competition invented for Australian rugby.
There’s no better setting than a Sunday afternoon in the sun to see the birth of another when Super Rugby AUS launches at Ballymore this weekend.
The Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies will go hard at it when they play their first competition match outside Super Rugby since 2006.
Few will even remember the Australian Provincial Championship of 2006 but it was a rapid-fire month for the four Aussie Super 14 clubs of the day.
Super Rugby AUS is the same “small, fast little competition where dropping any game puts you behind the eight ball” as Reds coach Les Kiss said this week.
No one had heard of one kid under wild dreadlocks before he played in a Reds vs Brumbies match at Ballymore in the National Ricoh Championship, another post-season competition which ran from 1998-2000.
His name? George Smith. Then-Reds coach John Connolly couldn’t believe how good he was for the Brumbies as a teen before a stellar career took off.
The high flying-fast vanishing Australian Rugby Championship (2007) and the longer-lasting National Rugby Championship (2014-19) didn’t stick around either.
All those competitions had one thing in common.
Australia’s top rugby talent needs more games outside Super Rugby and ways to make that happen have to be found.
If you are a Super Rugby regular, how about bossing all others in your position in Super Rugby AUS while the Wallabies are away? Gaining confidence is an invaluable commodity.
If you are a new face like Queensland’s Tom Robinson, Vaiuta Latu, James Martens or Hamish Muller, throw your name on the radar with rugby fans.
If you are returning from injury like prop Massimo De Lutiis and winger Heremaia Murray, here’s the footy you have been craving after watching from the sidelines.
That’s the cool thing about Super Rugby AUS.
An uncapped player will start making more of a mark in this comp. In 2027, he’ll be playing for the Wallabies at a home World Cup.
That’s a guarantee. You be the judge on who it might be.
The old APC of 2006 had the likes of James Horwill, Beau Robinson and Julian Huxley running around. All became Wallabies.
The likes of Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale and Berrick Barnes played in the ARC of 2007 and became decorated Wallabies.
Let’s dive into four match-ups to enjoy on Sunday at Ballymore.
Super Rugby AUS is a great opportunity for HMP to play a stack of minutes at flyhalf and control the Reds in his way.
He is a low-to-the-ground runner and hard to corral. He has a deft short kicking game on attack as well.
Meredith is in the same position for the Brumbies with everything to play for with No.1 flyhalf Noah Lolesio heading overseas.
Australian rugby needs tighthead props. De Lutiis is fresh back after repairing a dislocated wrist. A strong Super Rugby AUS can be a springboard into Wallabies tour calculations for the end of the year.
Van Nek made his start at Easts and was the Tony Shaw Medallist in the 2020 Hospital Cup grand final. His ears scare little kids which shows you how much he has put in to prove his credentials as a top prop.
The powerful McLeod is the poster boy for what a big performance with people watching can mean. His strong charges left a real impression when he came off the bench for the First Nations and Pasifika XV against the British and Irish Lions. He was an unknown before that outing.
Centre Pakeho has gained enormously from the Queensland Rugby Union’s strategy to create games outside Super Rugby. He’s played against Wales, Tonga and Japan’s Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights. He stepped up in Super Rugby Pacific this season and he can advance again in this competition.
Reimer is one of the premier pilferers in Australia for his telling cameos off the bench. He’s the Brumbies captain and a starter through this competition.
He’s a worthy breakdown opponent for flanker Robinson and his youthful Reds backrow partners Muller and Latu.
