After a week of headlines that the next big thing in Australian sport, Joseph Suaalii, could turn his back on rugby league to join the 15-person game, the Waratahs’ 29-10 defeat would hardly have filled the 16-year-old with confidence.
And yet, despite the error-riddled display at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday night there was, in fact, several standout performers.
Veteran Rebels playmaker Matt To’omua once again outplayed his younger opposite Will Harrison for the second time this year, while young Rebels forwards Trevor Hosea and Jordan Uelese showed plenty during their near-hour performances.
Here are five things we learnt from the Rebels’ maiden win of Super Rugby AU.
Right from the outset, there was one playmaker who took control of proceedings: To’omua.
His first kick of the night found touch near the halfway line; his first carry saw him slice through the Waratahs’ defence, where he showed Lachie Swinton some candy and the crunching back-rower fell for it.
All night To’omua was on. As pundit Rod Kafer said in commentary for Fox Sports at half-time: “One of the best for the Rebels has been Matt Toomua. He has controlled this game very well. His kicking game has been excellent, goal kicking has been perfect and his ability with the ball both in attack and defence has been outstanding. A player who is happy to take the line on, happy to make breaks, unselfish and looking to set players up around him.”
He continued to probe away in the second half, putting Jermaine Ainsley through a hole with a lovely short ball in the 52nd minute on halfway. It was a classic out the back play from To’omua, who was positioned at second receiver, and straight from the Wallabies playbook of years gone by. Except, instead of going further wide, the classy Test inside back played short.
Later, in the 65th minute, he was held up over the line after pinning the ears back after latching on to a Billy Meakes carry and then ripping the ball out.
Where the Waratahs wasted possession by kicking the ball away and showing panic with ball-in-hand, To’omua manipulated the home side’s defence and controlled the game expertly.
It was a fine display following the kick-a-thon that took place at Brookvale Oval two weekends earlier.
The Waratahs would be wise to study how the Rebels controlled the game’s tempo.
To’omua was helped by having the experience of Ryan Louwrens inside him.
Harrison will benefit from Jake Gordon’s return from injury.
2. Could a Wallabies jersey be too early for this U20s star?
It might have seemed an obvious statement, but former Rebels analyst Eoin Toolan’s comment during the game could come around sooner rather than later.
Toolan tweeted: “Trevor Hosea… will be a Wallaby lock.”
Trevor Hosea... will be a Wallaby lock.
— Eoin Toolan (@Toolan82) July 24, 2020
It wasn’t long before one observer pointed out that it’s no great leap for a Junior Wallaby to go on to play for the national side, particularly following the departure of Test locks Rory Arnold, Izack Rodda and Adam Coleman.
Except, this was Hosea’s first Super Rugby start and at 20, the 204cm, 117kg giant still has a long way to physically develop.
But Hosea’s fine first outing was something to marvel at.
Where the Waratahs couldn’t buy a lineout win, Hosea looked right at home at the lineout and was busy around the field.
His opening 15 minutes after half-time was particularly impressive.
He wasn’t helped by Test teammate Jordan Uelese, who, after slipping, passed well-out in front of the lock and Hosea was made to look clumsy by spilling the ball.
Both men were replaced at the 55-minute mark.
But keep a close eye on Hosea.
3. Having a dig
Whilst we’re on the Rebels, let's shift our attention to Uelese.
Pre-game, the nine-Test Wallaby, who has had a torrid run of injuries since debuting for the Wallabies in 2017 after just 28 minutes of Super Rugby action, looked for all money to be a late scratching. He went down like a man shot during routine warm-up drills. A minute later, the 23-year-old limped to the sidelines and has his right-ankle strapped.
But one of Cheika’s favourite young up-and-commers didn’t shirk.
He threw himself into everything, was strong on the ball and his lineout operated soundly.
Uelese won two breakdown turnovers. The first in the seventh minute and later, in the 54th minute when he pounded like a tiger to get on James Ramm.
The Wallabies desperately need men to get on the ball.
Uelese is one of Australia’s best.
4. 'Ban kicking'
No, this isn’t Cheika’s game plan from 2019.
But the Waratahs would do worse than to ban kicking from first-phase unless it’s to clear their own line and kick for field position.
The Waratahs’ kicking nightmare was summed up by their head-scratching efforts in the 74th and 75th minutes.
With 20 per cent possession in the second half, both Jack Maddocks and Harrison were guilty of wasteful kicks when on the attack out wide.
Harrison twice in the 75th minute kicked when he should have held the ball.
The first was when he nicely sliced through on halfway, but wasted possession by grubbering ahead for himself.
Seconds later, Harrison, on his own 22m line, put a cross-field chip over the top for Maddocks. The fullback spilt the ball.
It led to Kafer asking former Wallabies captain Phil Kearns, who for years has bemoaned the Waratahs’ ineffective chip kicks, “Are you still sending out that survey Kearnsie to ban kicking?”
5. Waratahs' woeful discipline
"We didn't show up in a fight there," Waratahs captain Rob Simmons said. "We lost the fight before the game even started, whereas last week we were let a handful of moments slip and that's where the game was lost."
For a team that has won just two of their past 10 matches, this was an extraordinary statement from Simmons.
Their coach Rob Penney said that perhaps the short turn-around after the gut-wrenching 24-23 defeat to the Brumbies six days earlier contributed to their lackluster performance.
But to admit that the game was lost pre-game was head scratching.
The Waratahs might have been beaten up-front and in post-contact metres, but they weren’t smashed off the ground. Instead, they were their own worst enemies by inexcusable discipline with and without the ball.
The Waratahs were on the wrong end of a 17-10 penalty count and had just 28 per cent of possession.
But while the Waratahs’ leadership team said that the Rebels’ gain-line advantage was a contributor to them being pinged at the breakdown and off-side line, the reality is that the Waratahs didn’t display anywhere near the discipline they need to.
This was most evident with Jed Holloway’s yellow card, who came on just a minute before he was shown a yellow card in the 70th minute for being offside.
Holloway’s yellow was very much a team yellow, but he wasn’t disciplined enough to stay in the line from slow Rebels ball.
Hooper, too, was regularly pinged because he came in from the side at the breakdown.
The Waratahs need to hold themselves to a greater standard.
