Why Eddie Jones and the Wallabies shouldn’t worry about Super Rugby table

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Fixating on the Super Rugby table will get you nowhere in assessing how competitive the Wallabies will be this year.

If it were an accurate predictor of future events, they would get wiped out by the All Blacks – beaten by 30 points in Melbourne in late July and 40 points in Dunedin the following week.

But they won’t, and the All Blacks know it, and they spelt out why to this masthead.

“Even since I’ve been with the All Blacks, we’ve always had the same question,” All Blacks coach Ian Foster said. “How do you judge the Wallabies by Super Rugby form?

“And it’s probably the same answer. Have they got the ability to put out a strong Wallabies team? Clearly they have when you go through their squad, and so I don’t think anything impacts on the strength of the Wallabies.

“But it does highlight the depth in Aussie rugby, and I guess that’s the challenge, that’s all documented.

Eddie Jones and Ian Foster will renew hostilities at least twice this year.Credit: Getty

“They’re still persisting with their five teams, and that’s their goal. But, I actually expect their teams to strengthen the second half of this tournament, I think that they will learn, they will benefit from the first half and actually grow a little bit in the second half.

“And I think history tells us that’s probably likely to happen.”

The Waratahs have improved since the halfway mark, the Force beat the Highlanders and the Rebels-Brumbies game last week was one of the best Australian derbies of the past 10 years – and there has been some drivel dished up during that period.

So, Foster is right on that front and he also knows full well there are 23 good enough players in Australia and overseas to make his life uncomfortable later this year.

Len Ikitau is absolutely world class.Credit: AP

Take Len Ikitau for example. He’s the best No.13 in the entire competition, and I’d be prepared to have that argument with anyone.

At his best, Samu Kerevi is the best No.12 in the world, so that’s the midfield sorted.

Out wide, Marika Koroibete has spent the past two seasons upskilling in Japan, and Tom Wright has been outstanding for the Brumbies.

Up front, Rob Valetini is elite. The Highlanders are basing much of their game plan for Sunday’s clash against the Brumbies on stopping the big man, who is probably a better No.6 option than any New Zealand have at the moment.

In the second row, Darcy Swain can become a very good player if he manages to clear the red mist that seems to permanently hover above his head, and the remarkably athletic Nick Frost is being folded with far less frequency.

Will Skelton is in the waiting room up north with a significant fan club comprising coaches and media observers, and in the front row Allan Alaalatoa and James Slipper are just hard-nosed operators who’ve been around the traps.

Yes, there are gaps in the squad but not as many as there used to be after Dave Rennie spent three years building up the player base and connecting them to the point that hardly anyone wants to go overseas.

To his eternal credit, Eddie Jones has recognised the work of his predecessor and the foundations he laid – so far at least.

Darcy Swain (left) seems to play with a permanent cloud of red mist in front of him.Credit: Getty

He knows that he hasn’t inherited a basket case team, and the widespread expectations that Jones gets a lift out of the Wallabies are not based on the usual misguided Australian optimism.

Joe Roff’s prediction that the Wallabies are like a dam that is about to burst may be taking it a bit too far, but the Wallabies should be expected to go very close to beating the All Blacks at the MCG, or indeed get the job done.

Super Rugby is a competition that says more about the pathways underneath than the Test team above. There’s enough for Jones to work with, and the All Blacks certainly know it.

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