Will the Wallabies embrace the high-risk attack style changing world rugby?
As the Wallabies gathered in camp in Sydney and all eyes turned to Test rugby, questions were flying a few days later about the Hurricanes’ incredible final run and Super Rugby title.
So what was this? Second, ‘Have the Canes demonstrated the new style of play needed to win the World Cup?
The Hurricanes were extremely dominant in winning their first Super Rugby title in a decade, scoring 50 or more points in each of their three finals against the Brumbies (66-12), the Blues (57-21) and the Chiefs (60-5). The margin of victory against Chiefs in the grand final was a record.
Contrary to the age-old tradition of winning defensive finals, the Hurricanes scored nine tries in each of the three play-offs with an unstoppable attack. That offered small consolation to the Brumbies, who were left despondent after losing for the first time in the knockout final.
“I don’t know if it softened the blow, it still stings a bit,” Brumbies and Wallabies full-back Tom Wright said.
“But I was under no illusions about the talent the Canes had. It wasn’t a surprise to see what kind of destruction they were going for. That softened the blow a bit.”
The high-risk, high-reward style used by the Hurricanes will have Test rugby coaches running to their whiteboards ahead of the Nations Championship starting next week.
Coaches always try to stay ahead of or on par with global trends in their style of play. After years of rugby being dominated by defense and structure, the move towards all-out attack has been seen not only in Super Rugby but in most other major competitions as well.
“Over the years we’ve seen a lot of teams play and play similarly to each other, so it’s clear someone is starting these trends,” Wright said. “Four or five years from now, maybe 2025-26, we’ll be saying the Canes have ushered in a new wave of offensive football.
“It showed that they were getting really intentional training. It’s a reasonable guess that they’re going to train that way and push themselves to be successful. Don’t just go there and just leave, let’s get the football in hand and see where we land.”
The Canes’ dominant wins have led to the emergence of Super Rugby’s usual critics in the northern hemisphere, where the competition has always been associated with soft defence.
Super Rugby recorded the highest number of tries per match in 2026 with 8.59 tries per match.
But other competitions not only followed suit and also greatly increased their number of tries; The English Premiership finished this season with more tries per game than Super Rugby for the first time at 8.64.
With 5.8 tries per game, champions Northampton were the northern equivalent of the Canes (6.1 tries per game). In France, European Cup winners Bordeaux and Top 14 powerhouse Toulouse also averaged more than five tries per game.
They all gravitated towards creating and thriving in chaos, being able to strike quickly against unstructured defenses with contested shots and turnovers. The removal of kick-pursuit blockers in late 2024 was a turning point, and offloading increased along with lower tackle heights. The Canes have gained nearly a third of their tries in 2026 from kicks or turnovers, with more than 60 percent of tries coming in three phases. Penalty goals have almost run out.
For teams like the Wallabies, who play a highly structured, possession game under Joe Schmidt, the question is do we need to change? And urgently?
“There would have been a lot of thought from Joe and the coaching staff, as well as other coaches in world rugby, on the risk-reward balance around that, and it would become something like: who can score 40 points the fastest? I don’t know,” Wright said.
The good news is the Wallabies have the cattle and guts to attack with the likes of Wright, Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Dylan Pietsch and Tate McDermott. Mark Nawaqanitawase and Zac Lomax are also on the wings and new coach Les Kiss has run a higher-risk style at the Reds.
“Look at the quality of some of the players we have,” Wright said. “There’s definitely huge value in that (aspect), understanding that at Test level there’s a bit more going on around set-piece combat as well. But I’m a big fan of it.”
The problem for the Wallabies is that they may be late to the party due to changes in their style of Test rugby. Judging by the record points and try scores seen in the usually staid Six Nations earlier this year, that has already happened.
111 tries were scored in 15 matches in the tournament (7.4 per match); A huge increase from 4.8 tries per game in the 2022 Six Nations. France and Ireland, two of the Wallabies’ opponents in July, scored 30 and 24 tries respectively. This was the highest and fourth-highest number of tries ever seen in the Six Nations tournament.
Iain Payten is senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
