'Did that just happen?': Kiwi rugby greats stunned by red-hot Aussies

"Did that just happen?" Jeff Wilson summed up the thoughts of most Super Rugby Pacific fans after the Brumbies walloped the Crusaders 50-24 on Sunday to return to the top of the table.

The Canberra club hadn't won in Christchurch since 2000 and the Crusaders are the competition's defending champions and overwhelming benchmark.

"I thought the Brumbies were a chance, don't get me wrong," All Blacks legend Wilson said on The Breakdown, available to watch on Stan Sport.

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"I respected how good they were last week and how good they were in 2025. But I didn't expect them to put 50 on the Crusaders in Christchurch. In no way, at any time, did I think that was possible."

The Brumbies have long been Australia's best Super Rugby side but they haven't won a title since 2004.

The last Aussie team to lift the trophy was the Waratahs under Michael Cheika in 2014. We are only two rounds in but the NSW club sit second on the ladder, matching the Brumbies with two bonus-point wins.

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"Some real skillsets I'm liking from the Australian teams now," Wilson said.

"We've heard about the growth in the Wallabies side, but I think in Super Rugby, we've seen there's a willingness for them to offload. Their ruck speed's good when they get on top of the ground. I just felt as though they're really clear on how they want to play, and their option taking is so strong."

Ex-All Blacks hooker James Parsons agreed that Stephen Larkham's influence had seen the Brumbies' attacking game evolve.

"The Australian sides - Brumbies in particular - are playing on more instinct rather than being so fixed in in our phase play structure that we're probably seeing from the New Zealand teams," Parsons said.

Test centurion Mils Muliaina added: "It reminds me of when the Larkhams and the (George) Gregans evolved. They're able to adapt this sort of game plan based on what's happening."

The Brumbies beat the Force 56-24 in round one. Brumbies No.8 Charlie Cale was again outstanding and will almost certainly add to his two Test caps this year.

"The balance they've got on their team - and you think, there's no Tom Wright at the moment," Wilson noted.

"And when he comes back later on in the season (from a knee injury), what he brings. But they've got athleticism, they've got some vision, they've got some finishing. (Corey) Toole's got unbelievable feet, and there is no substitute for that type of speed. So they've just got to be really happy with the first two weeks, knowing that they've started and prepared and played well...

"The way they've played compared to the New Zealand teams, we've used blunt force trauma. We've tried to go through the middle of teams a lot, in New Zealand currently, whereas they're prepared, they know they have to go through the edges, and they're getting better at doing it."

Brumbies prop James Slipper became the first Australian and the second player to play 200 Super Rugby games, marking the occasion with a try. Slipper scored his 11th try in Super Rugby in the 30th minute.

"We're super stoked to be able to do it for big Jimmy on his 200th and he got a try to show for it as well," Brumbies captain Ryan Lonergan said.

Only former All Blacks prop Wyatt Crockett, who played 202 matches for the Crusaders, has played more than Slipper, who remains surprisingly fit at 36.

Slipper will break that record - if he plays every match - when the Brumbies play the Drua on March 14. Slipper made his Super Rugby debut for the Reds against the Waratahs in 2010.

Rhys van Nek, who propped the Brumbies scrum with Slipper on Sunday, was only 10 when the veteran made his debut. Slipper went on to play 104 times for the Reds before joining the Brumbies in 2019.

He made his Wallabies debut against England in 2010 and went on to play 151 Tests, placing him third on the all-time list behind Alun Wyn Jones of Wales and Sam Whitelock of New Zealand, both also retired.

Slipper scored his first try in his 94th Test and in 2024 surpassed Gregan's record of 139 Tests for Australia.

"Every time he speaks, whether it's in a huddle or in a team meeting space, everyone listens and takes the advice on board and then he backs that up with consistent performance," Larkham said.

"He's still playing as good as he's ever played in his career and still loving his rugby. It's a pleasure to coach him and the boys love being around him."

Slipper showed skill and vision in scoring his try. He first provided a good ball to fullback Andy Muirhead, who breached the Crusaders defence, then ran off the shoulder of lock Cadeyrn Neville to score in the left corner.

The Brumbies scored eight tries to four. The last time they beat the Crusaders in Christchurch Larkham was at flyhalf. Only three of the Brumbies' starters were born when that win was achieved.

The win "is up there as one of the best", Slipper said.

"We knocked off the Blues at Eden Park last year, and that's a bit of a hoodoo for us. Like most Aussie teams, we've come here, and we put up a fight, but we never get the chocolates. So, for today to come away with a result, and the way it ended up is a big result for us.

"But one thing I know, I've been around a while now, you know, you've got to be playing your best rugby towards the end of the season, and that's what the Crusaders do really well. They seem to come home really strong, so that's our challenge."

The Brumbies are now 2-0 for the season ahead of a home match next week against the Blues.

"We've been to Perth and we've come to Christchurch and haven't played at home yet so coming away with two games has built our confidence," Slipper said.

The Crusaders, meanwhile, are 0-2 after a first-up loss to the Highlanders. Their loss - the second heaviest ever at home - resulted from a lack of discipline and threadbare backline defence.

"The last 20 minutes was embarrassing, wasn't it?" Crusaders coach Rob Penney said.

"Look, the boys will go deep, it will be well led by (captain) David Havili. There will be some discussions had to try to right the ship, we're not where we want to be and not where we need to be.

"There's layers of the game that we want to be a lot better at and we just need to go deep... their finishing over the top of us like that was a bit embarrassing and we will just dig into why that happened the way it did.

"At halftime there was no inkling that fatigue was going to be an issue. We just struggled to put phases together with the ball, and when we did have the ball, we would make a mistake and give them an opportunity. It was just one of those vicious cycles we got into.

"Our set piece, in particular our lineout, imploded. We have the answers there but we didn't call upon them at the right time and that, I guess, compounded the pressure that built internally. From there, we just couldn't get any pressure building moments, so we stumbled repeatedly."

The Brumbies forwards struggled at times against the Crusaders, especially in lineouts, but their backs were devastating in fine conditions on a hard ground.

"I mean, that game just blew out, and if you look at the quality of the game up until that point, it was tit for tat, could have gone either way," Larkham said.

"We won't get ahead of ourselves. We know the Crusaders started poorly last year and went on to win it. And we also know there's a lot of things we can do a lot better in the first 20 minutes."

Sunday's match was one of two trans-Tasman contests over the weekend. The Blues beat the Force 42-32 in Perth after trailing 17-14 at half-time.

The Waratahs picked up their second win in a row with a 36-13 victory over the Drua on Friday with winger Max Jorgensen scoring a pair of tries in Sydney. Replacement hooker Ioane Moananu also scored two tries for Dan McKellar's side with flanker Charlie Gamble and lock Angus Blyth crossing the line.

The Chiefs sit third in the standings on eight points following a 26-23 win over the Highlanders, with hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho scoring two tries.

It was Leroy Carter who crossed for the most eye-catching try of the weekend. The winger touched down in the 32nd minute after teammate Quinn Tupaea caught the Highlanders napping with a quickly taken dropout that allowed him to race down the touchline before offloading for Carter to score.

The Hurricanes romped to a 52-10 win over Moana Pasifika in the Wellington club's season opener, with Josh Moorby scoring a hat-trick of tries and Fehi Fineanganofo and Brayden Iose grabbing two each.

Moana had taken a sixth-minute lead through a fine individual effort by winger Tuna Tuitama but were soon overwhelmed by the home side, who opened up a 19-point advantage by half-time and extended that lead throughout the second half.

"They started well, they whacked us on the nose but we recovered quite well and it's a pleasing enough performance," Hurricanes captain Jordie Barrett said.

"We're never going to be perfect, it's round one for us."