Super Rugby's time-wasting experiment gets Brumbies' tick of approval

The Brumbies officially ended their 2022 season on Thursday, falling to the Melbourne Rebels 35-17 in a wet clash in Albury.

It was the last game of an 11-month campaign and it gave new coach Stephen Larkham a chance to cast his eye over combinations for next year, but it wasn't about the result.

It was an opportunity to see what rugby could look like with experimental laws implemented and shot clocks used to encourage more ball-in-play time.

Many hope it will be the blueprint for reviving Super Rugby and the clash on the border gave coaches and players a first-hand look at potential changes.

Some were praised. Allowing crooked lineout throws if defending teams don't compete, set times for lineouts, scrums and rucks got a tick of approval.

The three-phase advantage rule was hit and miss, as was the decision to only award free kicks after one scrum set, particularly when one team was in the attacking zone.

"They were interesting," Ross said. "The refs are always trying to hurry up the game at scrum time. They didn't start the timer until we were there, they weren't going to make us run and tell us we had 30 seconds. They were very good about it.

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"You don't want to repack scrums for the sake of it, you want to play footy and an entertaining game for the fans. It was good. We weren't repacking all the time, and we were able to get footy underway, which is what every player wants."

Larkham added: "The three-phase advantage, I don't think that was received well by any of the teams.

"But lineout certainly has merit, time wastage and being time compliant, I think they can stay in the game as well. And I think you'll find the stats of ball-in-play time were really, really good."

The Rebels did however landed a bragging rights blow over the Brumbies, sending Larkham's squad on holidays with the taste of defeat lingering.

The Rebels burst out of the blocks and streaked to a 21-0 lead at half-time. The Brumbies were always chasing from there, and never got close enough despite tries from wing duo Corey Toole and Ben O'Donnell and star on the rise Charlie Cale.

The players will now disperse for the next month before starting pre-season training in November, with Wallabies players unavailable for Brumbies work until mid-January.

The loss against the Rebels and win against the NSW Waratahs two weeks ago gave Larkham an early look at what he'll be working with after returning from Ireland to take the coaching reins again.

He liked what he saw in newcomer Cale, while sevens star Toole and O'Donnell have impressed in their first outings for the franchise.

Most importantly, Larkham said the extra games at the end of the club season and the Australia A tour of Japan were crucial to development in Australian rugby.

The demise of the National Rugby Championship meant players were effectively on gardening leave from August to February in the past if they weren't required for the Wallabies end-of-year Tests.

But the change in schedule has given game time to the players who need it most.

"I've had an opportunity to see these boys up close and personal now, and can understand them a little bit better now," Larkham said.

"It is a long season for the boys when you add in pre-season training they go through. But it's a great opportunity to play, guys who work hard from November until July and some don't get many minutes in a Super Rugby starting side.

"It's certainly something we want to continue going forward, it gives them that higher level of exposure to make them better."

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