Canberra - The rugby World Cup is still more than seven months away from kick-off but already the signs are looking a little brighter for Australia.
On Friday, the opening day of the Super rugby season, the Melbourne Rebels upset the Canterbury Crusaders in Christchurch then the Brumbies thumped the Queensland Reds 47-3 in Canberra.
The Wallabies know as well as anyone that World Cups aren't won in February but there was still plenty of encouragement for Australia's long suffering fans.
The Brumbies, fielding a core of players likely to feature in Australia's World Cup plans, were very impressive against the Reds.
They ran in six tries, including four in the second half, to show why they are being tipped as one the early favourites to win the title after finishing runner-up two years ago and making the semi-finals last season.
Typical of Australian teams, the backs looked sharp whenever they got the ball and there were individual flashes of brilliance from their playmakers, none better than scrumhalf Nic White's solo try, when he nutmegged Will Genia with a grubber kick that he regathered in goal.
More significantly, given the woes of Australia's forward pack in recent years, the Brumbies used the driving maul to great effect.
“It's a really great start to the year,” said Brumbies flanker David Pocock.
The Reds contributed to their own downfall, conceding 17 penalties and finishing the match with 14 men after former Wallabies skipper James Horwill was second off after getting a second yellow card.
“It's obviously not the way we wanted to start the year, but those are the cards we were dealt,” Reds captain James Slipper said.
“Discipline really hurt us... you can't win games with that sort of discipline.” – Reuters